The Future of Man 

M eta-Psychic 
EDWARD C. RANDALL 



THE FUTURE OF MAN 

Meta-Psychic 



By EDWARD C. RANDALL 

Author of "Life's Progression' 1 '' 



"Force is the breath of 
nature, and that is life" 



OTTO ULBRICH COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 

BUFFALO, N. Y. 

MCMVIII 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Copies Received 

DEC !2 1908 

CUSS 6L XXc. No, 



? *■* 



Copyrighted, 1908, 

By Edward C. Randall,. 

All rights reserved. 



TO THOSE WHOSE HEARTS ARE 
IJKAW WITH DULL GRIEF, TO 
THOSE WHO SEEK THE TRUTH 
AND WOULD KNOW THE LAW OF 
LIFE, I DEDICATE THIS BOOK. 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

T. THE GREAT QUESTION , , ,17 

IT. THE MENTAL GRASP . . . 25 

in. TRUTH AND APPEAR AXrK , , . :;7 

IV. PROGRESS 

V. HOWDOIKNOW1 51 

VI. SPIRTT IDENTITY . >. . W 

VII. OF MANY MINDS 75 

VIII. SPEECH WITH SPIRTT PEOPLE , 83 

IX. THOUGHT AND MTND .... 80 

X. NATURE'S LABORATORY ... 00 

XI. VIBRATION 107 

XII. MATTER 110 

Xin LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE . . .131 

XIV. THE ATTITTDE OF SCIENCE . . 141 

XV. EVOLUTION 155 

XVI. BEYOND THE ATOM . . . . 169 
XVII. THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND . .181 

XVITI. SPIRTT SUGGESTION . . . L91 

XIX. THE WORLD'S DESIRE . . . 20ft 

XX. HOMES IN THE AFTER LIFE . . 211 

XXL TRUE CHARTTY 210 

XXII. TO THAT MORTAL WOITJ) [ SPEAK 227 

XXIII. TRUTH AT LAST 233 



FOREWORD 

IN the presence of dissolution v faith, be- 
lief and creeds wither and decay, and 
doubt goes hand in hand with grief. 
In such a presence we feel what speech can- 
not tell, and hope that what seems night 
here is somewhere else a dawn. In the 
majesty of this silence, how acts and deeds 
bust into perfect form. When loving 
hearts are breaking, and heads are bowed 
above an open grave, how dare any priest 
presume to tell what he does not know? 

Little at best can be known of the after- 
life, so boundless is its scope; yet enough 
can be learned while in the body, to dispel 
the awful fear and to lighten the sorrows 
that fill the human heart, as well as to make 
men lead better lives because they can live 
more intelligently, and so enrich the world. 
That I may increase this knowledge, I have 
investigated every natural law that I have 
had the opportunity and ability to study, 



THE FUTURE OF MAK. 

and now, owing to present freedom of 
speech, I publish the results of my investiga- 
tion without fear. In many ways I have 
sought the thought of men, both in and out 
of the body, ever drawing my own con- 
clusions, and making my own deductions. 
I have felt the thrill of success in the dis- 
covery of new laws and in the proving of 
new facts. 

The bridge of death no longer rests upon 
the clouds of hope, but upon great piers of 
knowledge. Every act is but the product 
of conditions, and the heart applauds the 
brain when one works to increase the force 
of universal good. I know that matter is 
eternal and that only form is new, and 
that one who but yesterday in the flush of 
health faced the storms of life with splendid 
courage, and whose body lies to-night in 
the embrace of mother earth, is no excep- 
tion to the rule. All that was matter, as 
we use the term, the outer garment, all that 
gave him physical expression, will mingle 
with the substance from which it was 
formed: but his spirit is eternal, his pro- 
gression will be unbroken, and his horizon 
will widen, as he reaches the sphere of 



FOREWORD. 

psychic discovery. I know that to the lim- 
its of that plane in which he lives at first, 
the human voice will carry, the thought will 
reach. The so-called dead live here about 
us, know our sorrows and grieve with us. 
They share our happiness, they know our 
hopes and ambitions, and, by suggestion, 
through our sub-conscious brain, they in- 
fluence our daily conduct. I know that 
there in the after-life they have feature, 
form and expression, and, therefore, bodies 
composed of matter, for there cannot be 
form without substance. The substance 
that forms the bodies of spirit-people, vi- 
brating more than five octaves higher than 
the violet ray, few in earth-life ever see, 
though spirit people see and talk with each 
other, and with mortals when the necessary 
conditions are secured. I know that every 
hope, ambition and desire of earth are con- 
tinued beyond this life, as is also the bur- 
den of wrong. I know that we are as much 
spirit now as we ever shall be ; that in death, 
so-called, we simply vacate and discard the 
gross material that gives us expression in 
this physical plane. All about this mater- 
ial world of ours, there exists, in fact, the 

9 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

psychic or spiritual universe, more active 
and real than this, peopled with all the 
countless dead, who, no longer burdened 
with a physical body, move at will within 
the boundaries of their sphere, in what ap- 
pears as space to mortal man. 

Their life is an active one. All the new 
conditions, all the great laws by which 
they are to be governed, must be learned, 
and only by individual effort can 
they live intelligently and well. I know 
that a wrong act in earth-life must be lived 
over again in the next sphere, and lived 
right, before advancement is possible; that 
the labor is often long, but that families 
and friends are, in time, reunited and take 
up the thread where it was broken. I have 
heard them talk among themselves, and to 
me, and many eminent men and women, 
upon my invitation, have heard the same 
that I have heard in the material conditions 
that we have made. I know something of 
the democracy of death, and that all man- 
kind is beginning to hear and march to the 
silent music of reason. I know, too, that 
the highest duty of every one is to contribute 
what he can to the prosperity of the many, 
10 



FOREWORD. 

who though rich in worldly goods, are men- 
tally poor in a land of opportunity, and that 
this individual life of ours, whether 
it has had birth within the palace 
or the hut, no matter how it turns 
and curves and falls among the hills 
as it courses from the mountain-tops, 
through valley-lands, or, lies at times in 
stagnant pools of ignorance and vice, fester- 
ing in the sun, must some day reach the 
great ocean of eternal life, from whence it 
came, clean and pure. 

I am told that : "Beyond the life men call 
material, is another so much more real, so 
much more vital and interesting, that, when 
you enter into its fullest harmony, the lit- 
tle lives you led on earth will fade into the 
dim unreality of a dream-like past." 

We cannot in the nature of things know 
much of the every-day life of spirits who 
people what to us is infinite space, because 
we are unable to grasp, to any great extent, 
the realities of their conditions. All can 
learn a little of matter and laws that con- 
trol it beyond the physical plane, and to 
that extent can reason from cause to ef- 
11 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

feet, without which there cannot be any 
rational conclusion. 

I know that the tendency of all people is 
to do right, and that an invisible world, 
peopled by the so-called dead of all ages 
past, is interested in and is aiding our pro- 
gression, that it speaks to our dull ears, 
with silent voices heard only through the 
subconscious brain; and I know that the 
great desire and hope of those beyond is to 
bring the world to an understanding of 
what dissolution means and of what follows 
so-called death, so that, knowing these two 
things, they may learn how to live the earth- 
life well. 

The age of faith is past. The teaching of 
the church no longer satisfies the hunger 
of heart and brain. This is an age of fact. 
The present calls upon all men to think, 
not to believe; the torch of reason has been 
lighted, and its day is here. Some of the 
churches are now teaching mental therapeu- 
tics and utilizing psychic force to heal the 
sick, and, in time, all must follow the ex- 
ample of the few. The education and de- 
velopment of this generation have made it 
possible for spirit-intelligence to direct, in 

12 



FOREWORD. 

some measure, the thought and conduct of 
mankind; and so I thoroughly believe the 
churches that shall teach the truth are al- 
ready built. 

For many years, I have been associated 
with two distinguished gentlemen and, with 
the aid of a psychic, talked voice to voice 
with spirit-people. Possessing no unusual 
ability or powers, we have been obliged to 
develop one who possesses psychic force. 
Having observed the conditions required by 
spirit-people, we have found another and a 
busy active world here and about us, in 
which people live and move in such intense 
vibration, that they are not visible to the 
physical eye. They inhabit what we know 
as space and have, under certain conditions, 
power to speak to mortal man. Many of 
the so-called dead have honored us with 
their friendship and have given us much in- 
struction. When I have used their own 
words, the fact is indicated by quotation 
marks. 

I have written these pages with the 
hope that some heart, heavy with sorrow, 
may come to comprehend the truth about 
dissolution, and to know that those called 

13 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

dead are alive, and that all is well with 
them. We should ever look with eager eyes 
for gems of truth, and what we find, we 
should have the courage to express. I know 
better than anyone can tell me, how incom- 
plete is this effort to give the world a Meta- 
psychic Philosophy, but bear with me: I 
have gone, in my research, beyond physical 
laws and the books of men, out into the 
wilderness of fact; beyond the beaten path 
into another world, more active and more 
real than the one in which we live, and what 
I have written, incomplete though it may 
be, are facts and they are true. Without 
arrogance, prejudice or preconceived and 
fixed notions, I have sat at the feet of learn- 
ing, and, with eager and receptive brain, 
have listened to the teachings of splendid 
minds beyond the physical sphere and have 
weighed carefully each word in the light of 
reason and of experience. I know "there is 
no death; there are no dead;" that this life 
is but the creative plane, a preparatory 
stage of development for the reality that 
comes with dissolution, which is merely an 
increasing of our vibratory action. This is 
the greatest discovery of the present age, 

14 



FOREWORD. 

and, when appreciated, will revolutionize 
the thought and conduct of the generation 
that shall accept it. 

Some mortal lives are so lived that they 
stand out like trees aflame along the green 
and wooded shore where waters beat with 
endless wave; others, like undergrowth 
within the endless forest, remain unknown, 
but each must, according to the immutable 
laws of progression, at some time, obtain 
perfect development, which is the heritage 
of all : this is the law of life. 

I know that in the kingdom of the mind 
there can be no personal dictation; that 
there is no God but universal good; no 
Savior but one's self; no trinity but mat- 
ter, force and mind. 

The twilight of fear has become to n*, 
who know this phase of life, a sacred hour, 
when, as the shadows fall, and rest follows 
a day of labor, Ave call to those beyond and 
hear voices of those so-called dead tell us 
of the future life of man. 

Dated Buffalo, N. Y., Oct. 10th, 1908. 

Edward C. Randall. 



15 



In the beginning, one of nay co-workers, in the 
life beyond, said: 

"I find about you, Mr. Randall, a crowd of earnest 
spirit-people who are bending all their thought upon 
this which you are about to undertake. They will help 
you, when writing, by their suggestions, and, as the 
little book begins its journey to find the hearts of men, 
they will open many doors, and guide it to many dark- 
ened homes. The light illuminating every page will be 
the beacon for many in distress, and we in spirit do 
most sincerely thank you for your efforts to bring 
these great truths to all people. 

"We see so many entering spirit-life who have 
lived and died ignorant of this natural law, and we 
know so well the importance of knowing and living 
according to that law, that we rejoice over this book 
of knowledge and we will speed it on its helpful jour- 
ney with eagerness and with pleasure.' ' 



16 



CHAPTER I. 

THE GREAT QUESTION. 

SINCE mankind came up out of .sav- 
agery, the great problem has been 
and ever shall be : What is the ulti- 
mate end of man? What, if anything, waits 
on the other side of death's mysterious 
door? What happens when the hour strikes 
that closes man's career, when, leaving all 
the gathered wealth of lands and goods, he 
goes out into the dark alone? Is death the 
end — annihilation and repose? Or, does 
he wake in some other sphere or condition, 
retaining individuality and identity? 

Each must solve this great question, 
whether he like it or not. Dissolution and 
change have come to every form of life, and 
will come to all that live. With opportun- 
ity knocking at the door, mankind has but 
little more appreciation of it now than it 
had when Phallic-worship swayed the des- 
tinies of empires. It may be that, as a 

17 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

people, our development has been such that 
we could heretofore grasp and comprehend 
only length, breadth and thickness, the 
three accepted dimensions of matter; that 
in our progression we have but now become 
able to appreciate and understand life forces 
that find their only expression beyond the 
physical plane. 

This was when all knowledge was handed 
down from one generation to another by 
story, song and tradition. When the Per- 
sian civilization was groAving old and am- 
bition towered above the lofty walls 
of Babylon; when Egypt was building her 
temples on the banks of the Nile; when 
Greece was the center of art and culture, 
and Rome with its wealth and luxuries held 
sway over the civilized world, they did not 
dream of type and printing press or applied 
electricity, and the many inventions in con- 
nection therewith that were yet to come. 
Those people were not ready for such pro- 
gression. 

The world cannot stand still. The great 
law of the universe is progress. Two or 
three generations since, the idea that a cable 
would one day be laid under the sea and 

18 



THE GREAT QUESTION. 

that messages would be transmitted under 
the waters from continent to continent, was 
laughed at as a chimera. Only a little 
while ago, the world could not understand 
how words and sentences could be flashed 
across the trackless ocean from ship to ship, 
and from land to land, without wires, in 
space. And who shall now say that it is 
not possible to send thoughts, words, sen- 
tences, voices even, and messages, out into 
the ether of the spirit world, there to be 
heard, recorded and answered? Has man 
reached the end of his possibilities; will all 
progression stop with Marconi's achieve- 
ments? 

This is the age of man; we have passed 
the age of the gods. If our development is 
such that we can comprehend the life and 
the conditions following dissolution, it 
must be within our grasp as surely as prog- 
ress has been possible at all times and 
among all people since the world began. 

Great changes are at hand. There are 
to-day, political, financial and religious rev- 
olutions. Honest men are demanded for 
public office; the day of the corruptionist 
is passing. Captains of finance, who ma- 

19 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

nipulate trust funds for personal gain in 
violation of law, fear imprisonment. Priests 
are realizing that they are no longer re- 
garded as infallible; congregations have 
ceased to accept their conclusions or in- 
terpretations of one great natural law ; the 
pulpit is losing attraction, and church at- 
tendance is slowly, but surely, diminish- 
ing. People are doing their own thinking, 
and with thought comes doubt, the dawn 
of reason, the stepping stone to the temple 
of knowledge. 

Assuming, then, that we have come to 
that period, when we can look upon all 
subjects and propositions impartially and 
intelligently, no longer bound by fear, past 
or present, and can open the book of life, 
we now appreciate that it is of the greatest 
importance to know what follows this life. 

We are swinging away from the old 
moorings; new views come with changing 
times and conditions. Knowledge is the 
torch that fires our enthusiasm and makes 
advancement possible. It is not the past 
but the future that commands our atten- 
tion. We may learn much of nature as she 

speaks, in all dialects, her various tongues. 
20 



THE GREAT QUESTION. 

All truth is safe, nothing else will suffice, 
and he who holds back the truth, through 
expediency or fear, fails in his duty to man- 
kind. 

Our age is one of sudden and rapid 
changes ; the people are in a state of transi- 
tion. Most minds are sensitive and each 
must be alert and versatile. It is a period 
fraught with unrest and thirst for knowl- 
edge. What was true yesterday, assumes 
a different, one could almost say a dia- 
meterically opposite aspect, to-day. This 
is a period that will be fruitful in 
great wonders in scientific discoveries, and 
in the adaptation of the universal law of 
vibratory action. Much that is said now 
could not have been explained a year ago. 

Some have come to know what awaits 
over the great divide, have solved the great 
problem of dissolution, and with the con- 
fidence born of knowledge, based on facts 
proved and demonstrated, are ready to 
speak with authority. As one among the 
many, I again give the world the result of 
my continued research in the new science 
of Metapsychics. 

The thought that there need be no more 

21 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

groping in the dark, makes the pulse 
quicken. The realization that fear can 
now be eliminated from the human brain, 
fills every heart with joy. The fact that we 
may come into touch with those in spheres 
beyond and know that they live, and how 
and where they live, will lift the burden 
of sorrow from every heart that mourns 
its dead. 

The child learns readily for two reasons, 
viz: (a) It has no preconceived notions or 
fixed ideas; (b) it has nothing to unlearn: 
its mind is free and receptive. We, of older 
growth, are but children in the wilderness 
of these new and subtle laws. Before we 
can grasp and comprehend this philosophy, 
we must free our minds and eliminate false 
conceptions and erroneous ideas. That this 
is a difficult task I well know, for minds 
filled with traditions and false conceptions 
of the after-life, simply cannot comprehend 
the truth when it is given to them. There 
can be no individual progression until one 
becomes free, mentally poised, open to rea- 
son and willing to hear facts and to weigh 
them honestly. The blind are entitled to 

our sympathy; we look upon those who 
22 



THE GREAT QUESTION. 

cannot grasp a truth, because it is not as 
they have been taught, with sorrow; but we 
grasp the open hands of the free and walk 
with them in nature's highway and reason 
with them. 

Humanity is awakening. For two thou- 
sand years it has listened to the song and 
drone of priest and preacher, and, lulled 
into a sense of security, has lived indiffer- 
ent to the end which each one fast ap- 
proaches. The mind has, at last, become 
active, and now demands to know what fate 
awaits us beyond the grave. Man has 
learned something about himself and the 
universe, and this knowledge has made him 
free. He is no longer in spiritual bondage. 
This is an age of intellectual emancipation. 
Those who walk with open eyes will find 
the truth, for it lights the way across the 
continent of every human life. 



23 



CHAPTER II. 

THE MENTAL GRASP. 

MANY will read the facts that are 
stated in this work and utterly 
fail to comprehend them or to 
grasp the laws that make such conditions 
possible. This I know from my own ex- 
perience, for it took many years of research, 
study and deductive reasoning for me to 
comprehend, in a limited way, life in the 
physical apart from gross matter. The 
trouble was in the imperfect mental grasp. 
When Copernicus said that the earth 
moved around the sun, and not the sun 
around the earth, as had been held since 
the end of Egyptian astronomy, the voice 
of all Europe was raised in protest against 
such a proposition; people could not com- 
prehend such a fact, for it appeared to them 
that, if the earth moved from one side of a 
vast orbit to the other, the stars would be 
displaced. Tycho Brahe, the great math- 

25 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

ematician, gave up the Copernican theory 
because he said, if true, his brain could not 
comprehend the magnitude of the universe. 
Bruno was put to death for defending the 
proposition, and it took a century for this 
truth to be realized, so contrary was it to 
the former teaching and belief. 

After Cassini upset the observations of 
Hooke and Flam stead, Molyneaux, an ama- 
teur, constructed the "zenithsector," and 
measured the distances of stars, but many 
years elapsed before this fact was accepted, 
for the human brain could not realize such 
tremendous distances. And Roemer, when 
he measured the speed of light, met the 
same reception and died before his discov- 
ery was accepted. The age could not grasp 
the stupendous conception; such inconceiv- 
able velocities were too terrific, and the 
minds of able men were overwhelmed and 
confounded in the majestic and awful pres- 
ence of nature. 

We are told that on a clear night, 6874 
stars, from the brightest to the sixth mag- 
nitude, are visible without optical aid, half 
of them being above the horizon at the same 
time. Down to the present time, more than 

26 



THE MENTAL GRASP. 

one million others have, with the aid of the 
telescope, been counted with more or less 
accuracy. Sirius, the brightest of all, is 
seven hundred thousand times farther from 
our earth than the sun, and it would taka 
ten thousand stars of the eleventh magni- 
tude and one million of the sixteenth, to 
emit the quantity of light poured 
forth by the mighty Aldebaran. Every star 
is really a colossal sun at terrific heat, and 
the center of a solar system like our own. 
Who shall say how many more shall be 
found in the depth of infinite space? To 
the average mind these facts and figures 
mean nothing; such distances are incom- 
prehensible; such numbers stagger us; we 
have heretofore had nothing with which to 
compare them. No mortal has journeyed to 
other planets or suns, or gone such dis- 
tances; therefore, these facts are practical- 
ly beyond the mental grasp, like many here 
presented. Any subject outside one's 
knowledge and experience is beyond his 
comprehension. 

It is a law that knowledge, which pre- 
cedes appreciation, must be acquired by in- 
dividual effort, by study, by labor, deduc- 

27 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

tion, reason ; and, as the world has devoted 
its research almost entirely to matter, 
meaning thereby matter in its lowest form, 
it is, therefore, densely ignorant of anything 
beyond the physical plane. 

When anyone fails to understand the sim- 
ple facts here presented, it is because he has 
not carried his observation beyond the phy- 
sical, for I have discovered only what any- 
one can by making well-directed and per- 
sistent effort. The situation as to these 
propositions is not very different now from 
what it was when Copernicus discovered the 
earth's movement, except that they do not 
now burn men for proclaiming a new dis- 
covery. It is as difficult for the mass of 
people to realize today that there is an in- 
visible world about us, filled with actual 
people, as it was when Bruno lived, to com- 
prehend the movements of this earth. 

When I say that there is life after so- 
called death, and that spirit people have 
form, feature, individuality, identity and 
occupation; that this world invisible to 
our physical eye is here, on and about this 
earth, and in what we know as space ; when 
I say that those thought to be dead walk 

2S 



THE MENTAL GRASP. 

our streets, enter our homes, and are with 
us much as before, the great majority can 
no more comprehend such a condition of 
things than they can the number of stars 
in the sky or the distance of Sirius, the 
brightest of our constellations, or what the 
parallax of Canopus is. I knoAV of the 
after-life by reason of having talked with 
thousands of persons now there, who have 
proved identity in a most emphatic man- 
ner; but, after many years of conversation 
with spirit-people, I frankly admit that I 
can comprehend only in a limited way their 
life and environment, so different is it from 
the physical. If I do fail to comprehend 
their daily life fully, what will one do who 
has never devoted an hour to the study of 
matter and life-forces in their higher vibra- 
tory conditions? 

We should not expect to understand and 
appreciate individual progression beyond 
the physical, or where and how people live 
in the next sphere, from an abstract state- 
ment of the fact. To gain knowledge of 
this condition, we must approach this vast 
problem as we would any other great sub- 
ject we desire to master. First, we must 

29 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

know something of the origin of physical 
life, how it is started, how it develops and 
grows; the object of material existence; 
how soul and body are nourished and held 
together; something of the theory of heart- 
action, blood circulation and the vibratory 
conditions of matter ; what dissolution real- 
ly means; what life-force is and where it 
comes from; the effect of conduct here on 
conditions in the after-life, and how to live 
so as to enrich ourselves when we cast aside 
that physical substance that gives us ex- 
pression. These propositions, stupendous 
as they seem, are in fact only elementary, 
and their mastery is a condition precedent 
to appreciation of life and environment in 
spirit-spheres. Knowledge on this subject, 
as in any other field of research, must be 
acquired by study. You would not expect 
to know the history of the earth's evolution 
and movements without studying geology 
and gravity, or the difference in the flora 
without knowing something of botany, or 
the chemical constituents of matter with- 
out the study of chemistry. The same law 
applies to psychic force and to life beyond 
the earth-plane, as on the earth-plane. It 

30 



THE MENTAL GRASP. 

is a great science — a wholly new philoso- 
phy. Few intelligent minds have ever en- 
tered this great field of knowledge; little 
effort has been systematically expended on 
it, and the results are, at best, only com- 
mensurate with the effort. No one man, or 
class of men, can bring these laws compre- 
hensively to the human mind. All who 
stud}- the subject can help, but the knowl- 
edge and appreciation that will reach the 
inner chamber of thought must be acquired 
by individual effort born of the desire to 
know. Those who cannot comprehend new 
propositions, must remember there are 
problems in trigonometry that many do not 
understand; but if we commence with sim- 
ple mathematics, and work along step by 
step, they will become as simple to us as 
the multiplication table. The same process 
must be used if we would grasp the prin- 
ciples and laws of Metapsychics. Abstract 
statements are of little value except to 
stimulate interest. Effort and well-directed 
study are of great importance. There are 
no schools or universities where this phil- 
osophy is taught, and few are qualified to 
teach it. Few books have been written that 

31 



THE FUTURE OF MAX. 

one can accept. But, for all that, one has 
nature all about him, at all times, calling 
in all tongues, and in all languages. The 
fact that life is everywhere, that nothing 
can die or be destroyed, speaks to our dull 
senses in a thousand ways ; sings of joy and 
peace through the forest-trees and woos us 
with bud, flower and growing grain. But 
so blind is the world that but few can read 
intelligently the book of nature, ever open 
to view. It is the great misfortune of the 
human race that these laws, more important 
than others that have been mastered, are 
practically unknown, though the peace and 
happiness of everyone depend upon an un- 
derstanding of them. 

Let me make a more simple statement. 
Before all form is mind. The desk I write 
on, the pen I use, the chair upon which I 
sit, the books on the shelves, the rugs on 
the floor, the lamp on the table, and the 
telephone on the wall, every machine that 
moves; each was conceived and fashioned 
in the mind before it was physically con- 
structed. All matter, as we use that term, 
is the expression of thought; every planet 
in our solar system and all the countless 

32 



THE MENTAL GRASP. 

suns tbat light the night, are but the ex- 
pressions of thought. 

All the great discoveries of modern times 
are simple when understood; the difficulty 
is with the understanding. When once we 
know the why and the wherefore, all nat- 
ural laws become so plain that "he who 
runs may read." What we cannot grasp, 
we regard as mysterious. When we dis- 
cover one of nature's laws, we marvel at its 
simplicity. There is nothing in nature that 
is supernatural; there is no supernormal, 
these are but names given to conditions 
not understood. 

The working and development of a hu- 
man mind is intensely interesting. Mr. K., 
who spent one year with me in this re- 
search, was a man of much learning and a 
great thinker along material lines, and 
when I endeavored to explain life, apart 
from the physical, it was so different from 
his experience that he was at first utterly 
unable to grasp it. As we progressed, step 
by step, confining our discussion to cause 
and effect, he came to appreciate the force 
of simple facts, and when he heard and 
talked, voice to voice, with spirit-people, 

33 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

his progress was wonderful, lie could ap- 
preciate the fact and the reason for it. On 
the other hand, I tried for weeks, with as 
simple words as I could use, to explain this 
philosophy to another who was anxious to 
know, but who had an untrained mind, 
practically without making any impres- 
sion. The one was a thinker and a worker ; 
the other was indolent and undeveloped 
mentally, and consequently had a limited 
grasp of such facts. 

From these experiences, and many others, 
I conclude that the vast majority of man- 
kind, having but little knowledge of this 
subject, cannot appreciate much beyond the 
visible and tangible, though they may be 
learned in other ways. Individual life, 
beyond the physical and similar to it, will 
be hard for many to grasp, because they 
have not investigated the elementary laws 
that form the groundwork of Metapsychics. 

If I can arouse human beings from their 
indifference to this great question, more 
vital to them than money, and get them 
interested in this new philosophy, they will 
find the truth in their own way. For a 
thousand years the individual has lived 

34 



THE MENTAL GRASP. 

in fear, bound by creeds and dogmas, and 
has been told what he should and should 
not do, how he must think, what he must 
think, — a slave to superstition and preju- 
dice. But fear no longer sways the 
mind, superstitions have been outgrown, 
creeds have lost their meaning, and preju- 
dice, the child of ignorance, no longer dom- 
inates the way on the crowded avenue of 
knowledge. 



35 



CHAPTER III. 

TRUTH AND APPEARANCE. 

TRUTH is always an achievement; 
it becomes such by reversing ap- 
pearances, turning rest into motion, 
solids into fluids, centers into orbits, and by 
breaking up inclosing firmaments into in- 
finite space. The sun, the moon, the stars 
seem to revolve, but they do not. We 
feel that the earth is motionless; that idea 
is erroneous too. We see the sun ritse 
above the horizon; it is beneath us. We 
touch what we think is a solid body; there 
is no such thing. We think we hear 
harmonious sounds; but the air has only 
brought us silent undulations. We ad- 
mire the effects of light, and the 
colors that bring vividly before our 
eyes the splendid scenes of nature; but in 
fact there is no light, there are no colors. 
It is the movement of colorless ether strik- 
ing on our optic nerve which gives us the 

37 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

impression of light and color. We speak 
of heat and cold; there is neither heat nor 
cold in the universe, only motion. 

Once it was said "This is as it appears." 
Now we say "The reality is not according 
to first appearance, but usually the re- 
verse." Knowledge has reversed these be- 
liefs, and the contrary is now proved to be 
the fact. The energy of an active agent 
seems to end with disorganization, but it 
really passes into another form. The ap- 
pearance of nature is almost always 
elusive; and our first interpreta- 
tion of natural conditions is us- 
ually the reverse of the reality. Of course 
this must be so ; it is the wisdom of crea- 
tion and the secret of the world; else knowl- 
edge would he immediate and icithout pro- 
cess. Nature has put reality at a distance, 
and a natural law compels each to travel 
that distance, and, by labor and study, to 
distinguish reality from appearance. 

Dissolution is no exception to the uni- 
versal law. It is not as it appears, but the 
contrary. Death is only another birth 
into a more active condition. Those whom 
we call dead simply move into a new com- 

38 



TRUTH AND APPEARANCE. 

munity, leaving mankind, because of their 
unenlightened condition, appalled at the 
change. There is nothing in the great 
scheme of nature that, when understood, is 
not simple, harmonious and beautiful. 
Many look at dissolution with horror be- 
cause they do not understand what it is 
and to what it leads. Fear is the lowest of 
human emotions, and the child of ignorance. 
When we all come to such a stage of men- 
tal progress that we can understand, we 
shall appreciate the wisdom and necessity 
of dissolution. Were it not for death, as 
we call it, this world would be crowded to 
starvation. Were it not for pain, we 
should not be warned against dan- 
ger nor should we know how to 
avert it. Sickness is a necessity; and all 
punishment that results from violation of 
nature's laws, is disciplinary. Dissolution 
only shifts the scenes, and transfers the 
individual from a material to a spiritual 
stage of action, without taking from or add- 
ing to his moral or intellectual capacity. 
In the next sphere of action, he no longer 
sees with half a vision, but is brought face 
to face with himself, which gives a higher, 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

broader and more comprehensive view 
and understanding of the economy of exist- 
ence, which is evolution — a law as unalter- 
able and indestructible as the mind itself. 

If a man never becomes more than he is 
now, the whole process of evolution, by 
which he has come to be what he is, turns 
on itself. The benevolent purpose, seen at 
every stage as it yields to the next, stops 
its progression, dies out, and goes no fur- 
ther; the little bubble of existence that has 
grown and distended till it reflects reality 
in all its glorious tints, bursts in a moment 
into nothingness. Life has been given 
to us forever; it is the only one of 
all the gifts that nature will never take 
from us. This body of ours may decay 
on some desert or plain, it may mould 
and go back to dust from which it came; 
but the life will never be extinguished. The 
breath is not the life of man; it only keeps 
in motion the wonderful mechanism that 
holds spirit in the physical plane. The 
soul, the spirit, the self, never dies. 

Life beyond the grave is the promise that 
hope has ever whispered to all who have 
lived; but it has taken 

40 



TRUTH AXD APPEARANCE. 

than those of which we have a 
record for evolution to develop the 
mental faculties so that they can 
grasp these more advanced conditions 
where evidence is obtainable, and to dem- 
onstrate the fact. Time was when every 
cradle asked us whence, and every coffin 
asked whither, and this generation, for the 
first time in history, answers these 
questions intelligently. Unfortunately, 
the average individual has formed er- 
roneous conceptions concerning the 
after-life, and these must be cor- 
rected before he can appreciate the 
sublime standard of natural law, and stand 
erect beside the column of knowledge, from 
which flares the inextinguishable torch of 
reason. 

The sovereignty of the individual must be 
gained by effort in the manner nature has 
decreed. The mind is so constructed that 
truth and error cannot occupy the same 
place at the same time; and when one at- 
tempts to understand a new condition, the 
one must be ejected before the other can 
enter. It has ever required greater effort 
to get rid of the false than to acquire the 

41 



THE FUTURE 0¥ "MAN. 

true. The weak must be taught. The 
strongest at some time must bend and obey. 
Should anyone who reads this new philo- 
sophy fail to grasp these laws, let him ask 
himself the reason, and see whether there 
are not two causes: (a) preconceived no- 
tions based on what one has been told, of 
which there is no proof; and (b) unfamil- 
iarity with the conditions and laws in force 
beyond the physical. 

No man, however well he may have 
mastered the laws of the mater- 
ial universe, should consider himself quali- 
fied to pass judgment on the conditions fol- 
lowing dissolution, until he knows some- 
thing of matter in its higher vibratory con- 
ditions; for in this domain only is intense 
life found. These laws, like those pertain- 
ing wholly to gross matter, cannot be com- 
prehended until the mind is free and open 
to conviction, and has evidence from which 
deductions may be drawn. The eternal 
dome of thought is high and broad, and 
each should do what he can to change the 
night of intellectual darkness into perfect 
day. Every man who discovers a fact adds 
something to the knowledge of the world. 

42 



TRUTH AND APPEARANCE. 

"Why," I asked a spirit, "is knowledge 
not immediate and without process?" 

"Because," was the reply, "knowledge is 
worth more when it is gained by self-effort. 
To every mortal who thinks rightly, Na- 
ture's laws become natural laws. It is 
only the ignorant who are blind to all that 
is going on around them. Each change in 
spirit-existence is partly hidden from the 
plane below, because the conditions of each 
change make it best for the soul to fit itself 
for the next, without absolute knowledge 
of the next step. All that is necessary is 
given to the soul when it is ready. As you, 
in earth-life, reach out for knowledge, 
much can be given to aid you to govern 
your earth-lives rightly, but not so much 
as to make you impractical in your daily 
work. Life in each sphere must be lived 
according to the laws of vibration that gov- 
ern that sphere. 

"When the right moment comes for the 
unfolding, the light breaks into the dark 
recesses of the mind, and the sudden radi- 
ance is dazzling. I keep telling you to live 
rightly and to teach others so to live. That 
is what earth-people must learn, but they 

43 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

are doing it very slowly. I tell you that the 
majority of souls on earth are sometimes 
centuries coming out of the deep shade of 
ignorance and sin. Learn to think good, 
pure, charitable thoughts. You cannot 
know the reward the future will bring." 



44 



CHAPTER IV. 

PROGRESS. 

TO the average mind that has given 
no thought to the problem of life 
after this existence, and to its great 
possibilities, the suggestion that those out 
of -the body can communicate with us at 
all, is startling. The fact that any condi- 
tions have been made where they can speak 
in their own voice so as to be heard dis- 
tinctly in our atmosphere, is beyond their 
comprehension. That spirit-people control 
the physical brain and hand to write, is 
beyond all understanding. The fact that 
millions of human beings have not heard 
or spoken to spirit-people, or seen them use 
the hand of a sensitive to write, does not 
even tend to prove that I have not had such 
experiences or that these are not facts. 
Knowledge is positive; ignorance is 
negative. I have seen the one and 
have heard the other again and again, 

45 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

and I know both to be facts; I have 
had taken down in writing many discus- 
sions and lectures on problems that are of 
vital interest. Let me give the words of a 
spirit on the subject of progress : 

"In the great theatre of the universe all 
is harmony that pertains to the manage- 
ment of the play. The one touch of dis- 
cord exists with players only. Gradually, 
but steadily, the players acquire a perfect 
knowledge of their various parts, and, as 
they learn to conduct themselves so as to 
allow the play to go on smoothly, the en- 
tertainment becomes more agreeable. But 
much rehearsing is required before a satis- 
factory exhibition can be given. 

"That all who wish may enjoy that to 
which they are entitled is nature's full in- 
tent, and gradually mortals are coming to 
realize that such is the case. An apprecia- 
tion of universal good for the benefit of 
mankind at large, can come only when the 
single and separate individual can clearly 
understand that he is entitled to those 
gifts of nature which his senses tell 
him may be had for the demanding. Un- 
til recently it was an almost universal be- 

46 



PROGRESS, 

lief that there were special privileges for a 
certain number of the supposed elect of 
God; but when a few who were barred out 
of those privileges, fearlessly raised their 
eyes and studied nature as it is presented 
on the stage of the universe, and learned 
that the only true supremacy and greatness 
lies in the difference of intelligence, and 
not in any distinction that can be marked 
by heredity, there came an awakening ; and 
since that day, the scenes on the stage of 
your world have changed rapidly, and each 
succeeding one has shown an improvement 
over its predecessor. And when this ap- 
preciation of the only true mark of great- 
ness among mortals has been realized, then 
and then only, will the cord of harmony be 
struck, and the play shall be so thrilling 
that the doors shall be open to the uni- 
verse at large, and all the different con- 
stellations will ring with applause as they 
see one more evidence of the splendid work 
of the master mind. 

"Knowledge is the key that shall open 
the door for this great production. Kuowl- 
edge is the magic key to progress. With 
knowledge comes confidence; with confi- 

47 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

dence comes a strengthened desire for more 
knowledge. When the creeping babe first 
pulls its body to an erect position by its 
hands and arms, and finds that it can stand 
erect on its little feet, confidence in the 
power of its being is established, and the 
first forward movement of its feet gives 
it further knowledge of its power, and, as 
step by step, its feet carry forward its little 
body, knowledge of its power begets con- 
fidence, and confidence begets the possi- 
bility of acquiring further knowledge; and, 
until something occurs to weaken that con- 
dition, the forward and onward movement 
to acquire more knowledge is continued. 
As it is with the creeping, toddling child, 
so it is with the adult; until something 
occurs to stop that onward movement of 
gathering knowledge, progress is constant. 
What, then, is more terrible to contemplate 
than any system of teaching that can be- 
get, or has begotten, fear, the great de- 
stroyer of confidence? Like one who sits 
upon a great height and has an unobstruct- 
ed view of what is happening on the plains, 
we, of the spirit-world, can look with un- 
obstructed vision down the long vista of 

48 



PROGRESS. 

the past, and see the terrible crimes that 
have been committed against our fellow- 
spirits and earth mortals by those bands 
of men who dared to intimidate their fel- 
low creatures, and to hold them in subjec- 
tion by writing and preaching about things 
of which they were utterly ignorant. Some 
were mere fanatics; but in the main, they 
were mean, low, and unscrupulous men 
whose only thoughts were of personal gain 
and personal advantage. Awful will 
be the punishment of such men. 
Some are now undergoing their pun- 
ishment in the spirit- world, and others are 
clinging tightly to those whom they have de- 
ceived, and, by suggestion, are still doing 
their harmful work/' 

When the intellect ceases to be en- 
slaved, then is the body free. When 
knowledge holds full sway, then the 
intellect is free. Knowledge gives one the 
power of self-control, and when one has 
learned self-control, knowledge increases 
rapidly. And as one acquires knowledge, 
he gains self-control in like degree. 

"Let fear and suj)erstitution and dread 
of the future be banished from the minds 

49 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

of men, so that they may see clearly and 
understand nature perfectly; then will 
knowledge come to them, imparted by those 
who have journeyed into the next stage 
of progress, the spiritual or stage of acute 
intelligence." 



50 



CHAPTER V. 

HOW DO I KNOW? 

HOW do I know that individual- 
ity, personality, identity, and life 
itself, continue beyond the grave, 
and that the psychic world is about this 
world in what we know as space? If it is 
a fact, what method have I used to dem- 
onstrate it? Whether man lives after 
death is to science of more importance than 
how and where he lives. If the facts are 
finally accepted as I shall state them, then 
"what fools we poor mortals be" not to 
understand such a simple proposition ! Let 
me ask these questions: (a) Do you know 
whether death is, or is not, the end? 
(b) Have you ever made any personal ef- 
fort to find out? and (c) Do seventeen 
years of careful, earnest, intelligent work 
qualify one to speak? 

I have only reached the noon of life; 
but, many years ago, not content that 

51 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

others should do my thinking, and unwill- 
ing to accept hearsay evidence, tradition 
and blind belief, I determined to discover 
the facts about the future life, if they were 
obtainable, and from those facts, draw my 
own conclusions. 

The progress of the world has been so 
great that even the masses are coming to 
demand facts, — and facts that appeal to 
reason; less will not do. Have the great 
truths of nature been placed in the keeping 
of any class or set of men who alone are 
competent to explain? Or is the task left 
to any who seek truth in any guise? I 
long ago determined, having no precon- 
ceived notions, faiths or prejudices, and 
having at least nothing to unlearn, to de- 
vote such time to study and research on 
this subject as was possible. Furthermore, 
let me say that over twenty years in the 
active practice of law, largely in the trial 
of cases, coming in contact with many great 
minds, has qualified me to do certain 
things: ie, to estimate the weight and 
value of evidence fairly; to detect fraud 
in any guise; to know when a fact is 
proved. 



HOW DO I KNOW ? 

In conducting my experiments, I have 
always insisted that they should be done 
in my own home under such conditions only 
as I should provide. I use a room 10x14 
feet, with windows opening to the west so 
that the evening sun will enter it daily, 
with shutters to break the rays of light and 
make it dark, when experimenting and 
working with psychic forces. Why work 
in the dark, do you ask? Because spirit- 
people, when they speak, must take on gross 
matter, must clothe their organs of respira- 
tion, or the voice would not vibrate in the 
material atmosphere. Light is motion; 
and so sensitive are they to light-waves 
that break down the material atoms with 
which they clothe themselves, that abso- 
lute darkness is a condition precedent, at 
least in my work, for them to speak. The 
room is remote from, and has no connec- 
tion with any others; is so ventilated that 
the atmosphere is always pure; its only 
furnishings a carpet, chairs and a small 
table ; its decorations are red — the warmest 
of colors — and here, with the aid of a 
psychic, I have year after year talked with 
those called dead. 

53 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

Possessing no psychic powers myself, and 
such force being necessary to spirit speech, 
seventeen years ago I obtained the assist- 
ance of Mrs. Emily S. French, the finest 
psychic in the world to-day, and she has 
been a co-worker with me ever since. This 
splendid woman of culture and refinement, 
now 76 years of age, has, without compen- 
sation, devoted the evening of her life to 
aid me in solving the great problem of dis- 
solution. 

She contributes to the experiments such 
psychic force as is required, while I give 
the physical force that makes speech pos- 
sible. Space will not allow me to go into 
the process used by spirit-people in taking 
on the material so that they can speak in 
our atmosphere; it is sufficient that they 
do. Kemember, they have bodies of the 
same size, shape and contour as before; 
and, if clothed with gross matter, they can 
formulate and utter words just as well as 
when in this life. The question now is, do 
they speak, not how do they speak. 

Mrs. French and I simply go into this 
room, already described, and sit in dark- 
ness, with the small table only between us. 

54 



HOW DO I KNOW ? 

The occasion is not solemn; nor are the 
surroundings gruesome; rather it is a 
school-room and the lecture hour devoted 
to the unfolding of nature's simple laws. 
Since I possess no psychic sight or hearing; 
what I hear must be material. Any can 
hear as I do. If, in this dark room, I see 
or feel anything, it is because the spirits 
have so reduced their vibration, so retard- 
ed, for the time, their atomic and molecu- 
lar action, that they are, in fact, phys- 
ical. 

One morning, when Mrs. French and I 
were in this room talking to a physician 
who lived in the time of Alexander Hamil- 
ton and was one of his friends, a member 
of my family raised a window-shade in the 
attic, allowing sunlight to flash over the 
room. The rays were reflected through the 
ventilator in the ceiling, partially lighting 
the room directly over where a spirit-being 
stood talking. I saw his form perfectly; 
and, without a break in his discourse, he 
stepped to one side toward the corner 
where it was darker, continuing his discus- 
sion, simply saying as the place where he 
stood became partially lighted: "We have 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

promised the time should come when you 
should see us, but we scarcely expected it 
would be this morning. " He stood there in 
full materialized form, else how could 
I have seen him? He was a spir- 
it, for Mrs. French and I were in 
the room alone, and no other man 
could have come in without opening the 
door and letting in the full light of day. 
I not only saw him, but I heard his spirit- 
voice, as I have heard it may times since. 
This is a fact : I saw, I heard, I know. 

Physical demonstrations have never in- 
terested me. I have always wanted knowl- 
edge; and moving matter without applica- 
tion of physical force, granting it to be 
possible, has never appealed to me. I have 
had but few physical demonstrations. 
When Mrs. French and I were in this room 
some years ago, conversing with those in 
the planes beyond, I was told by one of my 
co-workers in spirit that they wanted to 
give me a test of their reality and power. 
Remember, Mrs. French and I were alone; 
the shutters were closed and the room was 
darkened; but outside the sun was shining. 
A spirit whose voice I recognized, said: 

56 



HOW DO I KNOW ? 

"When I say 'now,' let Mrs. French stand, 
reach both her hands across the table, and 
you take hold of them firmly, regardless of 
what happens." The voice soon said, 
"Now." Mrs. French arose; I took both of 
her hands in mine, determined to hold them 
with great firmness, which I did, with 
senses keen in anticipation, but with no in- 
timation of what Avas to happen. So firm 
was my hold on those hands that I knew, 
whatever happened, her hands could not 
aid in the demonstration. Soon the room 
was filled with the perfume of fresh flowers ; 
one swished in the atmosphere and fell at 
my feet; my grip tightened on those frail 
hands; there was no movement of Mrs. 
French's body, but flowers came apparently 
from every direction, even from the ceiling, 
striking me on the head, face, chest, back 
and side, falling on the table and around 
us in great profusion. I immediately 
opened the door and hurriedly called others 
of my household to see the display. We 
found upon the table, chairs, and carpet, 
upwards of one hundred pure white sweet- 
peas, fresh, with dew sparkling in the 
petals. The stems had been twisted off. 

57 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

At a later time, I asked how such a demon- 
stration, so at variance with physical laws, 
was possible. I also asked whence came the 
flowers? I was told that no law had been 
violated, but that physical laws which man- 
kind has not yet discovered, had been used; 
that spirit-people took sweet-peas from a 
garden where they grew in too great abun- 
dance, changed their vibratory condition, 
as we change water into steam, conveyed 
them in this state into the room, altered 
the vibration back again into its primary 
stage which restored the flowers to their 
original condition and color; then they 
threw them on and about me as I held Mrs. 
French's hands. This they did to show me 
their strength and to demonstrate a vibra- 
tory law. To this day I have kept some of 
those sweet-peas given by those spirit- 
people. 

At other times when alone with Mrs. 
French, I have been told to take both her 
hands and to hold them firmly, during which 
time spirit-people have come in full physi- 
cal form, stood beside me, and put their 
hands on my head. Their hands are warm 
and firm, but the touch is strange because 

58 



HOW DO I KNOW? 

they are in a state of intense vibration; 
they do not tremble or shake, but they seem 
to pulsate with a rapidity that I have not 
words to describe. 

I can sit in this room with no one pres- 
ent but Mrs. French, one hand upon the 
table, her mouth on the back of that hand, 
my other hand on top of her head, holding- 
it firmly so as to prevent the possibility of 
her speaking or moving her lips, and hear 
the spirit-people telling of life as they find 
it in the land of silence, as it is called. 

At the demand of science, at one time, I 
permitted Mrs. French to go under test- 
conditions. They wanted to apply what is 
known as the "water-test;'- that is, filling 
Mrs. French's mouth with water, to see if 
spirit-people could speak while she so held 
the liquid. At my request she consented. 
A man of science was chosen to make the 
experiment. He came and I gave him the 
key to the room in the afternoon, so that he 
might prepare his own conditions. In the 
evening, this learned professor, Mrs. 
French, and I, without lighting the room, 
and without any knowledge on our part of 
what condition it was in, entered. Mrs. 

59 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

French was given a certain quantity of liq- 
uid which this man put into her month. I 
could hear her breathe with difficulty. A 
moment's silence, and then a voice came 
in the darkness, unusually loud and strong, 
saying: "You see we can speak under the 
conditions you have made." I turned to 
the professor, asking: "Are you satisfied?" 
And he said: "I am." Then I said: "Ke- 
move the liquid; please measure it, and see 
if the amount expectorated is equal to the 
amount put in, and of the same color." I 
did not know the color or the amount. Upon 
examination, both were found intact. The 
test was evidential. 

This man declined to publish this 
fact, saying it was in advance of 
the times. He was afraid that science, 
so-called, would not accept his statement. 
In view of such conditions I made arrange- 
ments some four years ago, for Mrs. French 
to go to New York at the request of Dr. 
Isaac Funk and his associates. She sat 
with him for eleven nights, the record of 
which is published in "The Psychic Kid- 
dle." Kesults similar to my own were ob- 
tained, and at a later time, Dr. Funk, at 

60 



HOW DO I KNOW ? 

Rochester, applied the water- test again, and 
spirit-voices spoke to him while Mrs. 
French's mouth was filled with liquid. 
Such conditions demonstrate: (a) that 
Mrs. French does not do the talking, for 
her organs of speech are not used; (b) 
that the voices are independent. By that I 
mean that spirits use their own vocal or- 
gans. 

Such facts convince me that people I 
have known in the body continue to live 
when the physical has gone back to dust, 
that they have the same individuality, the 
same continunity of thought, and the same 
characteristic speech in the after-life as in 
this. 

By such experiments it is proved to be a 
fact that life continues after dissolution; 
that death is only a change of vibratory 
conditions; that the soul, mind, thought, 
by whatever name you chose to call this 
ego that thinks, reasons, and is, is in no 
way changed, only its action is governed 
by new laws controlling in the higher vi- 
bration of which they are a part. They 
are the same persons as before; and, given 
the required conditions, can talk just as 

61 



THE FUTURE OP MAN. 

well as ever. This requires no deductive 
reasoning; it is a fact proved and by many 
accepted. 

One in spirit-life said to me, in discuss- 
ing this subject this day; 

"You know because you ask, and fact 
and reason answer. It is so even now, that 
few truths reach the intelligence of men 
which are not brought in wrappers of super- 
stitution, tied with baffling unreality. All 
creeds, founded on the little ambitions of 
a sect of men seeking their own renown, 
are being swept aside, and the truth, naked 
and unafraid, founded on nature's laws, is 
coming to be understood. 

"Nature does not hide her laws, but holds 
them subject to the call of men, asking only 
that man shall qualify himself and know 
how to use and apply them intelligently, 
when they are unfolded to him. Nature is 
no miser, but is ever ready to give of her 
abundance." 



CHAPTER VI. 

SPIRIT IDENTITY. 

£C W W OW do I know," must be told 
I I on every page in different 
JL JL ways, but let us con- 
tinue with the independent voice, for, 
in the history of the world as written, 
and as spirit-people tell me, never before 
has such freedom of speech been known; 
never before have spirit-people of a high 
order of intelligence found an avenue of 
communication with the physical world so 
effectual. How could it be more convinc- 
ing than by voice to voice? My work has 
ever been conducted with great care and 
caution; every known safeguard has been 
adopted. I have never sought fraud, and 
have never found fraud; have ever sought 
truth, and have always found truth. A 
man's mind is like a magnet and the 
thought-waves emanating into the ether, at- 
tract waves of like character. 

63 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

The key to the after-life is passivity, not 
concentration. By centering the mind on 
some particular thing much desired, the 
thought waves are contracted, brought to a 
slower vibration. Spirit-people in higher 
atomic activity, cannot come into a mental 
condition pulsating at a slow rate; but 
into the passive mind where the waves are 
more active, more nearly in harmony with 
a spirit's vibratory condition. So we talk 
for a few moments preceding spirit-speech 
on general matters, filling the room with 
vocal vibrations which are taken up and 
used by spirit-people, — our thoughts intent 
on no particular subject or person. When 
we meet to continue our investigations, a 
period of ten to twenty minutes elapses be- 
fore spirit-people speak, during which time 
I feel as though some great power was in 
some indefinite way drawing upon my phy- 
sical strength, at times almost to the point 
of pain ; then the hush of expectancy ; then 
the greeting, as in any drawing room, and 
quite as natural, as they come in one by 
one. 

Working on the spirit-side of life, aiding 
this work, was originally a group of seven 

64 



SPIRIT IDENTITY. 

persons, who built up conditions every time 
we conducted experiments, the most im- 
portant of which is the chemist, for he must 
know at once what conditions will har- 
monize, and what elements can be used 
and applied to different spirits to enable 
them to use their organs of speech so that 
their voice will reach our ears. We con- 
tribute, as I have said, physical vibrations, 
while spirit-people bring spiritual, that is 
a higher vibratory state, which the group 
manipulates. The condition under which 
we get these voices, is a utilization of 
both. 

Certain of the spirit-group arrange these 
requisite conditions, while others direct the 
work. In the beginning of my investiga- 
tions, the voices came usually in whispers, 
the people speaking were generally persons 
of less than the average intellect, those in 
the lower walks of life; such characters 
predominated, and the most we could get 
from them was the conditions in which they 
found themselves, — interesting, but not 
particularly instructive, as they had little 
knowledge of life beyond the earth plane. 
It was all, I see now, that we were able to 

65 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

comprehend; but our progression was to 
be commensurate with our capacity. Year 
by year, as we grew more accustomed to 
the work, and more able to understand 
these higher laws, there was improvement, 
until now the finest minds of modern times 
devote their time to our instruction. From 
the ungrammatical speech of ordinary men 
and women, step by step, it has changed to 
the finest diction, the most splendid English 
to which I have ever listened ; and it is our 
privilege to enjoy, night after night, oratory 
finer than was ever delivered from any plat- 
form. Is it any wonder that I find such 
work intensely interesting, and have the 
courage born of knowledge to give the world 
what I have learned? 

So mighty is the force of human thought, 
and so delicate are the conditions of a spir- 
it's body when it has taken on material in 
preparation for speech, that, by word of com- 
mand, or even by thought-projection, I can 
break down its conditions and prevent 
speech. This is why those who oppose this 
philosophy so often get negative results 
when they seek demonstration; by their 
mental attitude or thought-conditions, they 

66 



SPIRIT IDENTITY. 

make impossible the very thing they seek; 
they so intensify their thought-substance 
that spirit-people are not able to break into 
the conditions they make for the occa- 
sion. 

Here is another piece of evidence which 
proves that the voices are not those of mor- 
tals : Spirit-people in speech with me, while 
using their organs of respiration, do not 
breathe as we do. I have often heard a lec- 
ture twenty minutes in length, without a 
break, the voice rising and falling in inflec- 
tion, speaking Avith great force and clear- 
ness, but not drawing one breath in all that 
time. This is a physical impossibility for 
any mortal man. 

Each voice has individuality. When a 
new spirit comes for the first time and 
takes on the condition of vocalization, there 
is often a similarity in tone quality, but 
this soon passes away, as they grow accus- 
tomed to using their voices in this way. 
The voices of those accustomed to speak, 
never change, and are easily recognized. 
Of such we never ask their names, for we 
know. There is no similaritv of thought 

67 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

or words; these differ in different people 
in that world as in this. 

The strength of the voices varies greatly ; 
one of our group speaks with sufficient vol- 
ume to fill easily a great auditorium, and 
his lectures ring through the whole house. 
Another whom I have in mind, always 
comes with great dignity and courtesy, i» 
careful in speech and considerate; but his 
voice, while very distinct, has not great 
volume. The voice of another, who was 
very near to me in earth-life, is as clear, 
strong, and natural as in the days when 
we discussed this philosophy, or Avalked in 
the forest trying to understand and come 
in touch with the law of life; and we have 
since his going talked as much, and with 
as great freedom, as in the latter years be- 
fore his going. There has been no subject 
of knowledge common to us both, that he 
ever hesitated to discuss in all its minutest 
details. This friendship of many years is 
continued without a break, and I enjoy his 
presence and our talks as I never did be- 
fore. 

One night, a voice of great volume and 
strength came out of the darkness, clothing 

68 



SPmiT IDENTITY. 

thoughts with such speech as only one man 
has ever used, telling of life as he, who was 
one of the world's great agnostics, found 
it after dissolution; of his life- work 
and duties there, and something of the en- 
vironment of a spirit and the possibilities 
of progression, closing by saying, "I am 
Mr. G.," as we will call him. 

I said to Mr. G. : "It is one of the rules, 
long in practice in our work, that when 
one conies as you have, teaching philosophy, 
identity shall be proved. Can you do this?" 
He said : "I think that can be done without 
difficulty." I replied: "Did you ever meet 
me?" He said: "Yes." "Where?" I asked. 
"At the Niagara Hotel in your City.* 
"When was that?" He said: "I don't re- 
call the year, but it was when I gave a lec- 
ture on Progress at the request of the Real 
Estate Men's Association." "What was the 
date of that lecture?" He replied: "I don't 
now recall, but it was in the early nine- 
ties." "Where was the meeting?" "At 
Music Hall, as I now recall." "Do you re- 
member who sat in the box at your left that 
evening?" "My recollection is," he replied, 
"that my wife and daughter did, with 

69 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

others.-' This was proof; it was all true. 
This is one of the ways adopted to prove 
identity; and this man stood the test to 
my entire satisfaction. 

Another instance: In my early work, in 
fact one of the first times I attempted to 
have speech with spirit, Mr. K., we will call 
him, was with me. He was one of those 
men who are always looking for tests, it 
was his ruling passion. He wanted tests 
more than he did knowledge, and as we 
were not seeking the same thing, we soon 
went different ways; but, whenever he met 
me, not having the courage of his desire, 
he would whisper: "Have you had any 
tests lately?" Whenever I saw him com- 
ing I knew what his question would be. 
So he lived, and so he died; and with- 
in a week, out of the darkness came a voice 
in greeting. I said: "Who is it, please? 
Can you tell us who you are? Give us some- 
thing that will establish your identity. Can 
you?" "Yes," he replied, "I am through 
looking for tests." 

One evening one spoke who said he was a 
physician of Philadelphia, and was brought 
in that help might be given to complete the 

70 



SPIRIT IDENTITY. 

separation from his physical body. When 
he finally became fully conscious, he told 
his name, the number of his residence, and 
much about himself. The papers the next 
morning had a full account of his death 
early the evening before. 

Mr. N., we will call him, Avas one of the 
most prominent members of our bar. He 
was supposed to be in perfect health, but 
late one evening he was found dead. I 
had no knowledge of the circumstances. 
He told me his name and proved his iden- 
tity without the slightest difficulty, for I 
had known him intimately. He asked me 
to send word to his brother, of New York, 
who, he said, was then in Europe — a fact 
I did not know — and told me where he him- 
self was and what he was doing when dis- 
solution came. The circumstances were 
verified by his son at a later time. Space 
forbids detail. I have mentioned only a 
few out of thousands of similar cases. 

In the beginning, much time was wasted 
to prove the identity of strange spirits who 
were allowed to talk, to find if what they 
said concerning themselves, was true; and 
while I know that spirit-people, as a rule, 

71 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

are as prone to deceit as mortals, I recall 
no instance of it. At one time, few men of 
my acquaintance passed on who did not 
come and speak with me; but now the 
strength is so limited, owing to the great 
age of our psychic, that personal interviews 
are not frequent, the time being used in 
giving information concerning this great 
problem and teaching this new philosophy, 
that the greatest good may come to the 
greatest number. 

Hundreds, yea thousands, have come and 
talked to me, and to many whom I have 
invited to participate in the work, — thou- 
sands of different voices with different 
tones, different thoughts, different person- 
alities, no two alike; and at times in dif- 
ferent languages. 

Spirit identity is a subject I have always 
considered important for many reasons: 
(a) It may be said, if a spirit can prove 
identity, that it is evidence that life con- 
tinues; (b) by knowing who he is, his ed- 
ucation, experience and opportunity for ob- 
servation, one can tell what weight to give 
his teachings, for, as I have pointed out 
elsewhere, spirit-people differ concerning 

72 



SPIRIT IDENTITY. 

many great questions just as people do in 
this life, and we must ever exercise our 
reason and draw our own conclusions. 
That is the way character is developed. 
Every statement made and every alleged 
fact that comes to us from either world, 
must be tested in the crucible of reason 
and must appeal to our common sense, be- 
fore it can be accepted ; and unless it comes 
from the retort pure, we discard it. 

No spirit ever feels at liberty to come 
into our sessions without the invitation of 
the spirit-group or of myself any more than 
a stranger would come into my house for so- 
cial purposes without an invitation. The 
same laws of privilege and hospitality 
which operate in the earth-life, prevail in 
the spirit-world. 

There is opposition to this work in spirit- 
spheres just as in this. The Catholic 
Church exists as an institution in the after- 
life, and is just as jealous of its domination 
as it is here. In our earliest work these op- 
ponents often tried to prevent speech by 
interrupting and disorganizing the condi- 
tions we sought to maintain, fearing that 
the truth might cause loss of temporal as 

73 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

well as spiritual power; and great efforts 
were made by the spirit-group, comprising 
our co-workers, to control and maintain the 
conditions, and to keep them out. I recall 
one evening when my stenographer was tak- 
ing a lecture in shorthand, that a Catholic 
spirit gained admittance; and such was his 
material strength that he suddenly wrench- 
ed the stenographic book from the hands of 
the stenographer, and threw it with great 
violence against the wall of the room. Our 
group finally forced him out and, as he 
was leaving, I heard him say, "What can 
one man do among so many millions ?" 



74 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF MANY MINDS. 

THE greatest fallacy of the human 
race is the belief that people, after 
dissolution, know everything, or 
that they agree, upon great propositions, 
any more than in this life. There is absol- 
utely nothing in metapsychics to warrant 
such a foolish assumption. Nothing in the 
world is acquired without effort, and there 
is no evidence that the scheme of nature is 
changed by what is known as death. Those 
who hold that through the change from the 
physical to the spiritual men become gods, 
know very little about evolution, and wrong- 
ly assume that there is one law for the phy- 
sical and another for spirit-life. The fact 
is, all nature's laws are universal, and ap- 
ply alike to both planes, for, to some ex- 
tent, both occupy the same space. This 
being so, we can appreciate the wisdom of 
creation and that it is worth while, if one 

75 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

continues his life and work beyond the phy- 
sical, to acquire all possible knowledge and 
development while living in the physical 
plane, to the end that he may be better 
equipped when going beyond it. 

Dissolution is a step in evolution, and in- 
volves no mental change, adding nothing, 
subtracting nothing, but simply increasing 
the opportunities for observation and learn- 
ing. As men regard this subject with so 
much indifference, it is easy to conceive how 
overpowering will be the situation present- 
ed when separated from the physical body : 
no going away ; no flight to the sky ; no sud- 
den acquisition of knowledge; no personal 
God ; but self in a new light, in a true light ; 
many of the so-called dead rushing to meet 
the newcomer as he takes the little step out 
of this life, into spirit-existence, while, as 
his eyes open, and the truth flashes upon his 
dull senses, he discovers that God is Uni- 
versal Good, which has been, and is, the 
dominant factor both in the physical and 
spirit-plane; that this force for good has 
held kingship since the world began; that 
man has been, and ever will be, a part of 
that force, increasing the sum total of that 

76 



OF MANY MIXDS. 

power of which he is a part, according to 
the measure of his progression ! This he 
does by developing the atom of good that 
he became at the moment of his conception. 
It came from that great force of Universal 
Good; and, let him go to and fro as he will, 
yet, drawn by an irresi stable force, he will 
return to the goal from which he came or- 
iginally; and, inasmuch as there is some 
good in everyone, the sum-total of that force 
for good will be enriched to some extent by 
his return. But this will not come at the 
moment of dissolution, for that is only one 
step along the way, and no matter though 
he live in the body beyond his allotted time, 
his life is practically only just beginning. 

When dissolution is past, and one has 
paid all his obligations to the physical 
world, (no progression being possible un- 
til this is done, for nature's laws are terri- 
ble in their exactness), and realizes his con- 
dition, the necessary thing is to take an in- 
ventory of his equipment, and to determine 
how far he is qualified to assume the duties 
and responsibilities awaiting him. He may 
be a great lawyer, an eloquent divine, a 
great financier, a learned professor, a good 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

merchant, or an honest farmer; but how 
will that help him when he is spirit dealing 
with matter in so high a state of vibration 
that it no longer resists muscular effort, the 
existence of which he has never before 
known? How will such a man deal with 
conditions of which he is so densely ignor- 
ant and which control his every thought 
and movement? There is but one answer: 
he must form new conceptions based on 
known facts and necessities, and, aided by 
the limited knowledge that he has acquired, 
he must commence again, commence, at 
best, where dissolution overtook him; the 
better equipped here, the more advanced 
there. When I say equipped, I do not mean 
with material knowledge, but with a broad 
comprehension of natural laws; this alone 
will aid one in adapting himself to the en- 
vironment in the new community of which 
he has become an inhabitant. 

In this material world of ours there are 
many opinions on every great subject; each 
works to a conclusion from known facts, 
but the conclusions arrived at are not al- 
ways correct. Spirit-people hold to their 
opinions after dissolution until they are 

78 



OF MANY MIXDS. 

changed by the new facts presented. They 
do not agree on many great questions any 
more than we do. They fail to understand 
many of nature's laws as mortals do, and 
are continually laboring to come to a better 
knowledge of them just as we do here; and 
there, as here, are "many minds," but as to 
what immediately follows dissolution all 
agree. 

The fact that spirit-people, though ad- 
vanced and learned in many ways, greatly 
differ on many subjects, was impressed on 
my mind by one in the after-life while dis- 
cussing the subject of "sound", when he 
said : 

"One of the facts that has been repeated- 
ly proved by experiment, is that the stress- 
condition, which I have heretofore re- 
ferred to, is an existing condition, 
that when a blow is struck upon 
various kinds of substance, a very widely 
differing sound is produced, and that the 
distinctive notes are, of course, the result- 
ing vibration of the particular mass struck. 

"It is not, to me, a satisfactory explana- 
tion that the sound that reaches our ear is 
only the result of the elasticity of the par- 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

tides of the mass acting strictly among 
themselves, the vibration of the mass itself 
and, also, the vibration of the particles of 
the mass ; but, the true solution of the prob- 
lem is, I think, and many agree with me, 
that the blow upon the mass may bring the 
particles of the mass momentarily to a state 
of rest, and so the mass itself may be tem- 
porarily reduced to a similiar state, or both 
the particles and the mass composed of the 
particles may be, for and during the period 
of the concussion, rendered, so to speak, 
physically dead, — this phenomena being 
based on the fact that all matter is in con- 
stant vibratory motion. And now, grant- 
ing my hypothesis that all matter produces 
in the surrounding ether a state of stress, 
the mirrored condition of its actual self, I 
think it necessarily follows that if the act- 
ual substances were brought to a momen- 
tary state of rest, the lines of existing stress 
reaching out from the object struck, would, 
on the instant, feel the effect, and the some- 
thing called sound would be the result of 
their sudden interference, and the prolonga- 
tion of the apparent sound would depend 

upon the length of the period of the suspen- 
se) 



OF MANY MINDS. 

sion of the actual vibration of the object 
struck. 

"This and many other facts lead others 
on this side of life to advocate the stress- 
theory. And again, there are many very 
well informed men on this side of life who 
argue against such a theory." 

"When this matter was brought to the 
attention of such on this side of life as are 
interested along these lines, much discus- 
sion occurred, and it is, and has been, ar- 
gued from two viewpoints: first, as simply 
impossible; and second, as reasonable, if 
the theory of existing stress, in the ether 
surrounding known substances, be logical. 
All of those trying to assist you, hold the 
latter." 

Such discussions impress one with the 
reality and earnestness of the people be- 
yond, and show how they labor to compre- 
hend all natural law. 



si 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SPEECH WITH SPIRIT-PEOPLE. 

TO the end that all may better com- 
prehend the character of the teach- 
ing that has been given me from 
time to time, I quote from the speech of 
many spirit-people on different subjects, as 
it was recorded at the time:- 

"A new branch of literature, relating 
wholly to the laws of psychic phenomena, is 
just entering the cycle of progressive 
thought. Let no experiment be unrecord- 
ed; your material is valuable. Every idea 
promulgated will be of universal interest." 

"The supreme need for each man is to 
reason, and to remain, ever after, true to his 
convictions. Where reason leads, you must 
follow publicly and openly. This is the 
highest conception of duty." 

"Men who deny to others the right of pub- 
lic speech are not qualified for speech them- 

83 



THE FIjTUKE OF MAK 

selves. Men criticize things they have not 
mastered, and do not understand.'' 

"Why are old experiences repeated? you 
ask. Because the tangle of life must be 
made right, and it must be made right by 
the individual soul. This is the truth I 
taught. Only a few are ready for it, and 
even today only a few enter into my sphere. 
There are those in earth-life with whom I 
daily and hourly commune; there are those 
here who still seek expression through some 
form of earthly religious belief; few are 
willing to stand alone and think" 

"Nature is an open book, with language 
simple and easy to comprehend; yet man, 
with all his boasted knowledge, has read 
but few pages and mastered less. Its les- 
sons are written in rocks, in earth, in min- 
erals and grasses, in grains, in flora, in 
trees, in bursting bud and growing things, 
in mountains, in snows and glaciers, in sun 
and stars, and in all movement and evolu- 
tion of matter, gross and refined." 

"I believe a man's conscience is his judg- 
ment-seat; and that reparation for wrong 
cannot begin too soon. I believe that love 
for humanity is the basis upon which man- 

84 



SPEECH WITH SPIRIT-PEOPLE. 

kind must stand to gain ultimate good ; that 
to help a sprawling beetle to gain its feet is 
an act the result of which will follow one 
through eternity." 

"Beyond the great divide, await all those 
for whom you mourn; all unsatisfied am- 
bitions, providing they are tending toward 
progression, you will have the power to 
gratify, by work and application*" 

"We belong to a vast army of workers; 
whose work consists in developing the best 
that is in us, both as individuals and col- 
lectively. Our souls must be developed on 
a large scale, so as to include all humanity, 
and, until we have this largeness in our 
souls, our work for ourselves progresses but 
slowly. It is the feeling of universal one- 
ness that makes us great individually." 

"Brood well upon that with which you 
store your mind. Each grain of knowledge 
will grow and bear its fruit." 

"Literature, art, all the great work of mas- 
ters, all the products of the genius of the 
present and the past, will come to the as- 
sistance of those who call. We are here to 
aid, to comfort, to uplift and to support all 
who ask for help. Only a few here have a 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

faint glimpse of a life beyond the satisfac- 
tion of earth-desires. Like tendrills cling- 
ing to a wall or to a decaying tree, through 
disappointed loves and blasted hopes, they 
keep tenaciously struggling with the prob- 
lem of mortal life." 

"Open your eyes and you shall see the 
new heaven and the new earth, all invisible 
to the physical eye, which sees only that 
which it wants to see, but it sees nothing of 
the eternal harmony, of which mortals ex- 
press only a counterpart. Awake to the 
truth of the joy of being ! Awake to the in- 
finite cause of all happiness ! Awake to the 
omni-active energy that surrounds you !" 

"All beauty is expression in a varied lan- 
guage — not of words, but of pure ideas, 
hopes and joys. Emotions have a language 
not yet comprehended, and yet to be given 
to a listening, waiting, longing world. Be 
filled with joy! That is the expression of 
God. If you would impress your thought 
on others, and spread the truth, make that 
thought the highest expression of truth! 
Make your life a continual song of thanks- 
giving for the good you find, and the good 
you give to others. Be consistent, looking 

86 



SPEECH WITH SPIRIT PEOPLE. 

to the harmony of natural law to guide 
you, and build your life on the same sim- 
ple principle. This life means to the true 
thinkers a wondrous unfolding, beginning 
with a child's first conscious look, going on 
and on until the individual is taken into the 
one great scheme of indivisible good. This 
is the ultimate end of all." 

"The universe is teeming with life, — 
beautiful, abundant life. Open your soul 
and stretch out as it were with eager hands, 
and let the spirit of Good enter, and abide. 
Like dew upon a thirsty, famished flower, it 
will make a sick soul well. It is the same 
force that is in the dew; only to the flower 
it must come in the form of dew, rain or 
shine; while to mankind it comes as a sug- 
gestion, enters into the mind, makes it 
strong and courageous; for a mind filled 
with the uplifting principle, which is Good, 
must be a pure one, one able to lead others 
to the great book of nature, there to learn 
to obey its laws — laws steadily, insis- 
tently, working for each blade of grass, each 
soul of man." 

"Beware of criticism. It kills natural- 
ness in yourself and others, and the best 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

impulses are suppressed by the frost of self- 
criticism. Attune yourself to the most 
harmonious vibrations, so that your im- 
pulses will be good, and then obey them. 
They are apt to be the suggestions of a fel- 
low-soul working out his salvation ; and, by 
letting the impulse hold sway over you, you 
not only do a good act, but help that 
struggling soul one step farther on his 
way." 

"When the end drew near and I knew my 
judgment was at hand, my spirit shuddered 
with horror. I kneAV I had not lived ac- 
cording to divine good. I had deceived, 
and, more than that, I had lied and abused 
the confidence of many who looked up to 
me. Will I ever be able to complete the res- 
titution necessary? Sometimes my soul 
sickens under the burden of sorrow and suf- 
fering I have caused, and I am afraid. I 
want, by these teachings which I am priv- 
ileged to give you, to gain much for my 
own advancement. Perhaps you and I to- 
gether may grow in greater harmony each 
day so that much good may come of it. Call 
me when you will, I will be watching, eager 
to take up the work." 

88 



CHAPTER IX. 

THOUGHT AND MIND. 

THERE are certan expressions 
and sentences in our language which 
are, at present, substantially mean- 
ingless, because the mind is unable to grasp 
what it cannot analyze. That "thought is 
substance 1 ' and "mind is matter," mean 
but little to mortal man, notwithstanding 
his wonderful progress, because so little 
is known of matter outside of and beyond 
that which resists muscular effort, or which 
he cannot observe with his physical eyes. 

Those that are educated along material 
lines see only in earth, water and air, cer- 
tain atoms, molecules and chemical combin- 
ations. All must admit that matter is gov- 
erned by force, and that the force that gov- 
erns and directs matter in its association, 
composition and change, possesses intelli- 
gence; but, being unable to follow matter 
through its evolution and refinement, they 

89 



THE FUTURE OF MAN". 

deny what they cannot comprehend. Back 
of the atom, back of all substance, back of 
all people, is a mightly force, called mind, — - 
the Master Mind we may term it, that di- 
rects and controls all substances visible 
and invisible by fixed and definite rules, 
which are termed "natural law". 

To attempt to bring to the comprehen- 
sion of mankind a definite conception of 
that mind, that force, is difficult beyond 
anything I have undertaken, because 
of my limited knowledge of the subject; for 
those in the sphere beyond the physical are 
able to give me but little information, 
for they have only limited knowledge. 
Simply because they are out of the body 
they do not know all, nor are they infal- 
lible ; so they, acting as instructors, can give 
me only that which they know. Perhaps I 
can deal with this difficult proposition in 
no better way than to quote what spirit- 
people have told me concerning the ques- 
tion. 

"Back in the past centuries, when the 
world of spirit had not its present develop- 
ment, there was little original inventive 
thought, Man built a shelter, killed his 

90 



THOUGHT AND MIND. 

food, and fought his enemies, as any animal 
does. As the spirit- world progressed, and be- 
came more intelligent ; as it obtained greater 
understanding, and grasped, with greater 
power, the life-forces, or, in other words, 
more power of thought and more ability to 
help mortal development, then, by reason 
of spirit-suggestion, acting through man's 
sub-conscious mind, he began to feel an 
awakening for something better and the 
progress of civilization began,' ' 

This statement emphasizes the fact that 
all life in every sphere ever has been, now 
is, and ever shall be, progressive; that there 
was a time in spirit-planes, as well as on 
this, when they did not possess 
the intelligence, comprehension and power 
that they do to-day, nor nearly as much as 
they will in time to come. 

Of what lies beyond the next, or first 
spirit-sphere, those who live there know but 
little. Knowledge is acquired only by ef- 
fort, there, as here; and only as we compre- 
hend the economy of natural law and mind- 
power, do we progress. We know that 
those in the next spirit-sphere, like people 
in the earth-sphere, develop their mental 

91 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

powers through acquired knowledge, and 
therefore, increase the sum-total of the 
Master-Mind of which they and we are 
parts; so that not only is the individual 
spirit gaining advancement, but being Spir- 
it, and a component part of the great Mind, 
this force increases in the ratio of individ- 
ual development; each day they and we 
are contributing something to the great in- 
telligent force which directs and controls 
the Universe; and its increase is measured 
by their and our progression. 

What the Master-Mind is, beyond the fact 
that it includes the individual minds of all 
who have lived, and now live, in any plane 
or any planet in the universe, we cannot 
know; we could not grasp the Infinite, if 
any spirit knew and tried to explain. That 
there is an intelligence controlling all mat- 
ters and all people to some extent, we do 
know. 

Again this spirit said: 

"Beyond and before everything is mind; 
that is, understanding. Mind is matter, as 
you use that term, with this difference; it 
is carried beyond the physical into a high- 
er vibration. Let me illustrate in this way : 

92 



THOUGHT AND MIND. 

good thoughts have a higher and more 
rapid vibration than bad thoughts, and 
bring us into closer harmony with spirit-in- 
telligences. There is no barrier to thought ; 
it carries us to the uttermost parts of the 
earth; to the heights of perfect joy and to 
the depths of woe. The people of earth are 
just beginning to gain some knowledge of 
this force for good within themselves. Once 
let that fact be understood, and mortals 
will come nearer to understanding their 
destiny." 

Another said: 

"Mind is the aggregate of all thoughts. 
Mind is the universal thought. As a drop 
of water signifies but one infinitesimal part 
of the great ocean, so a thought is but one 
infinitesimal part of the great ocean of 
mind. Thought is creative energy, the es- 
sence of all things, and expresses itself in 
form. The vibratory energy of thought-waves 
produce form, sound and color, though they 
are never perfectly expressed in the phy- 
sical plane. Not until men have arisen out 
of the physical condition can they come to 
an appreciation and comprehension of mat- 
ter so refined as to be known as mind. 

93 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

Thought belongs to the individual man; 
mind to the race universal" 

Words are but symbols used to express 
thoughts. There is nothing in a word ex- 
cept that it conveys an impression or ideas 
to the mind. They are coined as new con- 
ditions arise. When Newton discovered the 
law of gravitation, he had difficulty in find- 
ing words to describe the fact, so new was 
the proposition. So it is with metapsy- 
chies, that is the philosophy of life beyond 
the physical; this science is so new and so 
little is known on the subject, that words 
have not as yet been adopted that will allow 
of exact detail or comprehensive report. 

There is no such thing as space; what 
seems so to us, in fact, contains all the ele- 
ments that produce objects, but it is so fine 
in its particles and in so high a state of vi- 
bration as not ordinarily to be visible. All 
in the earth and sky is substance and holds 
within itself life force. The wind is mat- 
ter, for we feel it in our faces, and is a 
force for it drives great ships upon the seas. 
Water is slower in vibration than atmos- 
phere, so we feel and see it, while 
ether, which is atmosphere higher in vibra- 

94 



THOUGHT AND MIND. 

tion, we neither see nor feel, yet it perme- 
ates all things and all space and is likewise 
a substance. 

I said to a spirit who in earth-life, was 
the foremost scientist of his time, "What is 
ether?" and what is mind?" and he answer- 
ed: 

"Ether is simply atmosphere in more in- 
tense vibration than that which surrounds 
the earth. Ether surrounds spirits unless 
they go into the earth-plane. Mind, I mean 
the thought, not the habitation of thought, 
when the earth-life is over, becomes the en- 
tire being. It is the only part in man that 
is of such vibration that it can enter in and 
progress to spirit-life. The brain is so con- 
structed that there is an opening for spirit- 
force or suggestion ; consequently, it proves 
that the entire mind is of such vibration 
that the spirit-force can reach it; otherwise 
suggestion would be impossible. 

Mind is the essence of being, — the ego. 
It is material, but differing in vibration 
from the body. Spirit-force surrounds the 
flowers, teaching them how to grow and 
bloom, but they have no .conscious original 
thought. 

95 



THE FUTURE OF MAN". 

And so we find matter rising higher and 
higher in vibratory action. First the earth, 
then water, then atmosphere, then ether, 
and finally, mind, which is matter as much 
as the earth is matter, yet it directs and 
controls all substance in a lower vibratory 
condition. 

Let me illustrate: Over the land that a 
man owns, and the waters under the land, 
he has some control. He can dig into the 
earth; he can draw the water from it; he 
can use the air and, to some slight degree, 
deflect its currents, by the mind directing 
hands and other agencies that he can em- 
ploy. He holds limited dominion over gross 
matter under certain conditions. Now, 
spirit-minds, that make up the Master-Mind, 
higher in vibration than ether itself, hold 
absolute dominion over all matter in the 
physical universe. But, to attempt to ana- 
lyze that Master-Mind, or one's own mind 
even, to give the component parts of mind- 
matter or its chemical composition, is be- 
yond my power. 

One of my spirit co-workers said : 

"Be tempted to one extravagance only in 
this book of ours. Use every argument and 

96 



THOUGHT AND MIND, 

all the forcefulness you can, to show what a 
little thing, what a tiny span, the earth-life 
is. Real life begins when the heavy, ma- 
terial body is left behind, and the 
soul springs upward into the unlimited reg- 
ions of thought-life. There all grows, 
learns, expands into perfect fullness of 
being until one becomes a perfectly develop- 
ed spirit, able to blend with other spirits 
similarly developed and perfected. There 
is no beginning and no end, then, to the 
heights he can ascend; no joy that is un- 
known or untasted; no wonder of the uni- 
verse of which he does not become a part. 
It is being, then, that state which cannot be 
defined to unthinking and uncomprehensive 
minds. But try to grasp this idea, for it 
gives such an interest and zest to every-day 
life. Some day each shall be a part of the 
great force that makes all things work in 
unity. Before the force was so strong, 
there was not so much good work- 
ing among men. They were cruel, 
barbarous and uncontrolled. Much has 
that mind-force, working silently but 
constantly, achieved in the past ages, 
and much more will it achieve, now that 

97 



THE FUTURE OF MAK. 

mankind has become more receptive to our 
suggestion." 

"Thought is the expression of mind; it is 
partly caused by spirit-suggestion through 
the sub-conscious mind, and partly an ex- 
pression of oneself. Deeds are thoughts 
grown to maturity, and yet a thought un- 
spoken or unlived, will exist through all the 
ages, as though expressed." 



98 



A 



CHAPTER X. 

nature's laboratory. 

LL the universe is the result of 
chemical action; this entire earth, 



and all upon it, is one great labor- 
atory wherein nature's forces are ever ac- 
tive, controlled by laws made and kept in 
operation by the Master Intelligence. 

Nature abhores inaction and stagnation; 
life-force permeates every atom that goes 
to make up the mass which we call earth. 
We call the activity and expression of that 
force, energy. The ceaseless effort of this 
force to obtain development, coming into 
touch with other chemical conditions in 
nature's wonderful retort, is a refining pro- 
cess, working for the advancement of man- 
kind. An interesting discussion on this 
subject by a spirit is as follows : 

"It should appeal to you that each atom, 
or each element, and each molecular ag- 
gregation of sub-atoms, must possess dis- 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

tinct individuality. The scheme of nature, 
so far as so-called inanimate matter is con- 
cerned, is to allow a perfect expression of the 
individual characteristics of each separate 
species. The individual expression of those 
separate kinds of matter, be it in the atom 
or in that expression of associate atoms that 
produce separate effects, is to allow the 
steady and ever -occurring change that mat- 
ter is constantly undergoing to bring about 
progressive conditions. As matter is ever 
undergoing a process of refinement in the 
great laboratory, it follows that, inasmuch 
as the rule must be an all-including one (for 
no exception is allowed by nature) a period 
of time must come when the material of 
which the human brain is fashioned will 
also be effected by the refining process. 

"The time has arrived when this effect on 
the mortal brain is being observed by men, 
for the brain of the present day has reached 
the most sensitive stage in the world's his- 
tory. Being thus attuned, by the gradual 
and ever-active process of refinement of 
matter, it is quickened in vibratory power, 
and thus is in more perfect accord with the 

vibratory activity of the people of the next 
100 



NATURE 'S LABORATORY. 

step in progression, those who live without 
the clothing of the flesh. It is possible, al- 
so, for some few physical beings to be held 
in mental accord by certain spirit-people. 
The refined physical brain can adjust itself 
to the spirit-brain, so that the latter can 
dictate to the former comprehensive sug- 
gestions as to the proper method of proce- 
dure to grasp, harness, and control those 
subtle, magnetic forces of fixed, ever-exist- 
ing, steady, but pulsating, conditions of 
stress that are the perfect reflex of the ever- 
active particles of matter. 

"It is a well established fact, that sub- 
stances of the same kind attract each other 
and are cohesive in a given mass in so-called 
solid form, by a reduction of temperature. 
This kind of attraction has no relation to 
chemical attraction, but is mainly based on 
the physical characteristics of the sub- 
stance, made possible by the similarity of 
the crystalization of the substance. Much 
has been told and explained to you about 
this subject of crystalization of substance. 
It is the true demonstration of the acute in- 
dividuality of distinct elements and positive 
(actual) substance. As vegetablisin and 
101 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

animalism assert their different species by 
the process just referred to, so all things 
in the world of matter likewise assert them- 
selves. 

"Different species of the vegetable and 
animal kingdom, by the fact of distinct cry- 
stalization (form), possess the power to 
give expression to all the fixed and distinct 
pecularities that they possess, and to effect 
others of their kind, or of similar species, 
and mix and become assimilated with each 
other in their progressive action, and thus 
assert that subtle influence which you know 
as perpetuating life; the one nutrifying the 
other. Thus they give expression to that 
power, which is the deep-seated principle of 
nature, that you explain as life, and that we 
know is the Spirit. So also is it with mat- 
ter. It is permeated with Spirit Life, and, 
because of that fact, it is ever-active. If it 
were not for this fact, that it possesses 
Spirit or Life, matter could not undergo 
the ever-occurring changes, all of a pro- 
gressive character, that it does ; it could not 
change to unite and form substances and, 
after these new combinations have perform- 
ed their duties, to break down and form 

102 



NATURE'S LABORATORY. 

some other substances which also fulfill 
their functions in the progression of na- 
ture's great scheme. Were the atoms 
dead, spiritless, they would of necessity be 
non-active, and hence useless for the work 
of the Master's hand. 

"Matter, gross or fine, is but a vehicle for 
the use of the Spirit, and be it the invisible, 
theoretical atom of oxygen or of any other 
so-called element, or be it a perfect physical 
man, this atom of matter, or these aggrega- 
tions of atoms used to form man, are but 
the Master's vehicles to work for, and act 
as the carrier of, the Spirit. The Spirit of 
man is the intelligence of man, and nothing 
more. This Spirit is the highest type 
that the Master has desired to create on 
your earth. It is the consummation of the 
workmanship of that great workshop, your 
earth; and it is the final result of the ac- 
tivity of all other spirit-forces that matter 
has for countless ages, as man records time, 
been manifesting. 

"The final product of all of that ceaseless 
activity of matter is the one result that 
goes out from your earth as Eternal Life. 
Every other form of spirit-life is returned 

103 



THE FUTUEE OF MAN, 

to the refinery for the further processes of 
refinement, until it is fitted for the last act 
of earth-life, — the creating of a sublime hu- 
man intelligence, — and then it goes forth 
into the domain of Spirit, to be further re- 
fined and fitted for that purpose of the 
Master that is not clear to us of the Spirit- 
World, but, according to reasoning, based on 
such knowledge as is possessed by some of 
our most advanced intelligences, to be ul- 
timately a power added to the great In- 
telligence that rules the universe. But be 
the further following out of the scheme 
what it may, of this truth you may be cer- 
tain : God's use of this earth is to create hu- 
man intelligence ; and further, it is nature's 
constant effort to produce the best ; and, so 
true is this, that, if you will but "read" as 
you "run," you may note that people of 
your earth possess this knowledge as if by 
instinct (in reality by spirit-suggestion) 
and they are constantly endeavoring, in 
their blind, groping way, to perfect them- 
selves. Thus likewise it is with spirit-peo- 
ple. 

"Clearly we see, clearly we feel, all that 
you see and all that you feel. As your sen- 

104 



NATURE'S LABORATORY. 

sations are the half-blind groping of a low- 
er organism, sluggish, and dull as to the 
true facts that underlie real progress; so 
ours are the quick, clear, and fully-developed 
faculties for appreciating great truths. 
This refers only to those spirit-intelligences 
among us who have been awakened to a 
complete appreciation of our actual indi- 
vidual spirit intelligence, or, plainly, to 
those among us who have come to realize 
our complete separation from the physical 
body after dissolution has occurred. We 
are as much John Smith or Wilhelm 
Schneider in the spirit-life as when in the 
flesh, and we have the same distinct person- 
alities. 

"Thus, knowing by quick perception, as 
we do, that only right is right, and that de- 
ception cannot succeed ; that honesty only is 
a fact, and that dishonesty is a condition 
that brings about endless trouble that must 
be disentangled and made straight and ab- 
solutely honest by the causer; and, knowing 
that nature has established laws which are 
good, and, if adhered to, beneficial in their 
results; and which, if broken, must be mend- 
ed by the breaker, — knowing all these things 

103 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

made possible by our power of rapid percep- 
tion, (because those tantalizing desires of 
the flesh have no longer a hold upon us) we 
are ever and always anxious when we can 
come in touch with intelligence in the flesh, 
to give to such persons what we can of the 
truths that are clear to us." 



108 



CHAPTEK XI. 

VIRBATION. 

SCIENCE can measure the velocity of 
the wind, of the stars and constella- 
tions, and of rays of light; but who 
shall attempt to measure the velocity of hu- 
man thought? We cannot demonstrate 
spirit-forces and the conditions governing 
them, by the same rules that are applied to 
physical science. This is simply because 
there is a difference in the rate of vibration 
between things material and things spirit- 
ual. As long as matter is sensible to touch, 
science can measure it, analyze its sub- 
stance, and learn its component parts; but 
when it reaches a certain vibration, where 
activity increases beyond their knowledge, 
the "scientists" are lost in the wilderness 
which they call "the unknown. " This is 
where the philosophy that we term "meta- 
psychics" commences. We, of this new 
school of thought, are no more quali- 

107 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

fied to enter into the domain of physical 
science than the physical scientists are to 
come into our domain, and it would be most 
profitable for each school to confine itself 
to its own field of usefulness. 

Sir William Thompson, led by a hint of 
Faraday's, advances the theory that "all 
properties of matter, probably, are attri- 
butes of motion." I am told there are but 
two elements in the universe. This must be 
so : the positive and the negative, male and 
female ; else how could we have the harmony 
of the universe, and the tendency to final 
equilibrium of inharmonious conditions and 
things. All other conceivable elements are 
not elements, but compounds. Vibrations 
are slowest in the basic or generic rocks; 
the atoms and molecules composing them ly- 
ing close, of necessity, movement is slow. 
The basic rock, where it has not been 
changed in its position by upheavals, is 
most removed from the earth's surface. It 
has changed but little from the condition it 
assumed when this planet cooled and sub- 
stance came together in so-called solids; 
but, starting from this generic rock as our 
basis of comparison, as we come up through 

108 



VIBRATION. 

the different strata in which are recorded 
the earth's ages, we observe the vibration 
gradually quickening as matter changes in 
its formation, resulting in greater motion ; 
the vibrations intensify as we reach the soil 
and growing grains and trees, the plants 
and shrubs, and, finally, the flowers, bring- 
ing motion up to the highest pitch in the 
vegetable kingdom. But vibrations do not 
cease there ; as we reach man they increase. 
After the physical comes the spirit- 
body, still matter, still vibrating, 
which progresses on and on among 
spirit-spheres with ever increasing ac- 
tion, in spirit-planes, its refining pro- 
cess never ceases increasing, any more than 
man ceases progressing. 

Vegetation has life, the same character or 
kind of life as human beings, but, its vibra- 
tion being slower, it cannot move of its own 
volition. The only thing that makes it pos- 
sible for man to move at will, is because he 
is in a higher or more rapid state of vibra- 
tion, but with movement limited, — for all 
things have their limitations. We cannot 
pass through solids ; but spirit-people, living 
in a higher state of vibration, can. The 

109 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

spirit, while in the body, whose vibrations 
are slower and heavier, is impeded in its 
movement by the material; but at dissolu- 
tion it escapes physical impediments, its 
molecular or atomic action increases, and it 
can do more at will. There is quite as much 
difference between the vibration in and out 
of the body as between the physical body 
and vegetable kingdom. Dissolution, then, 
is only the changing of vibratory conditions. 
It has been illustrated to me in this way : 

"When the body, from disease or long in- 
habitation, becomes a broken shell, the in- 
tense vibration of the spirit breaks through 
the limiting space to which it has become ac- 
customed, and reaches a plane of higher 
vibration. The soul-sense dominates all our 
thoughts and actions; and, consequently, it 
is held in check only by the physical limita- 
tions of the body. When, as I say, the body 
becomes unfit to hold the spirit, the spirit 
breaks away at the first opportunity, and 
seeks the sphere best adapted for its expan- 
sion. The heavy vibrations of the body, un- 
less quickened by the presence of the keener 
soul-vibrations, fall back into the still heav- 
ier vibrations of matter, which is earth and 
no 



VIBRATION. 

vegetation. Nothing remains stationary, 
and if one part goes onward, the other goes 
backward. These are the elementary laws 
that govern change and evolution, and they 
are the A B C of spirit-knowledge. As this 
is becoming more known among those in 
earth-life, it tends toward their ultimate 
benefit." 

"There are always vibrations depending 
upon the subjection of molecules that are 
not so free in expression. I mean they are 
taken into the life-principle, and given their 
proper position ; they change only to go into 
the vibration that is gradually made for 
them. They do not have the sudden re- 
lease that comes to the soul, but slowly glide 
from one form into another, all in the same 
series of vibratory action. The souFs 
change is usually so sudden as to be a shock ; 
for it is hard for a spirit to accustom itself 
to the intenser vibration. This is the reason 
why at a death-bed there is always a gasp- 
ing for breath. It is not the physical body 
that is striving to breathe ; it is the soul, em- 
erging into that higher atmosphere of spirit, 
unconsciously trying to adjust itself." 

"Spirit-material is only earthly matter 
111 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

raised to a higher degree of atomic activity. 
Chemistry shows that when two elements, 
having a different degree of atomic motion, 
come together, there is an attempt at equili- 
brium, which, being accomplished, produces 
a new form of matter, and in the spirit- 
world there is no change of law." 

In the progress of matter from the sim- 
plest elemental state to the most complex 
organic compound, there is constantly (a) 
increase in the mass, (b) decrease in the 
stability of the molecules. This is well 
known in physical science, but a new con- 
dition is discovered: (c) with all these 
changes there is an increase in the activity 
of the properties which continues, not only 
as long as matter is sensible to touch, but 
through all the planes of life beyond the 
physical. There is not one law for the phy- 
sical and another for the spirit, but one law 
for both. 

Vibrations increase in geometrical pro- 
gression, and it is a well known fact that 
there are long skips in the scale where mor- 
tal ear hears and eye perceives, for motion 
becomes so rapid that it is lost to sight and 

sound. Watch the spokes of a locomotive 
112 



VIBRATION". 

wheel as the speed increases, they appear 
first blurred, then continuous. As the speed 
still increases they pass from our vision, as 
completely as spirit-form does. Both are 
governed by the same law. We do not see the 
spirit-forms of men or animals simply be- 
cause of their vibratory condition; that is 
to say, the average mortal does not; but 
there are some men and women who can 
catch sounds from the spirit world and 
others who can see spirit-forms; that is, 
they are psychic; they can see things and 
hear sounds that the average mortal cannot. 
This is termed "clairvoyance," and "clair- 
audience." Then again there are two forms 
of each one, the outward and the inward : 
(a) The outward form is where the psychic 
sees the form of a person, thing or object, or 
hears sound produced in the ear; this is a 
question of being attuned to higher than or- 
dinary vibrations; (b) the inward form is 
where a spirit is able to impress or to make 
the image directly upon the spirit-brain of 
the person, or to impress thoughts on the 
subconscious mind. This latter form is gen- 
erally called impression or inspiration, but 
this too, is only a question of vibration. A 

113 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

psychic is also known as, and in fact is, a 
"sensitive," who is able, to an extraordinary 
degree, to catch sights and sounds that the 
average individual cannot. 

There are birds whose homes are among 
the crags and high altitudes of the Andes, 
whose song mortal ear has never heard ; yet 
many men have seen their bills open and 
close with lightning rapidity and their 
throats pulsate, but the song is pitched so 
high that it fails to vibrate on mortal ear. 

Again one said: 

"All life is the expression of the overmas- 
tering energy of atoms. Vibratory action 
in the physical world is the ceaseless action 
and reaction of one force upon another — one 
undulating wave on another undulating 
wave. There is never an instant when this 
action ceases. It is at once the process of 
elimination, rejection, propulsion, discord 
and harmony. Nature is apparently relent- 
less. The sweeping storm, the force of the 
fire and tornado, destroy alike the gnarled 
oak and the perfectly formed landscape. 
Mortals with limited physical vision look 
with horror upon the devastation wrought, 
but we who have clearer vision see that this 

114 



VIBRATION. 

is only nature's mode of house cleaning. 
Out of the chaos, the great law of vibration 
produces harmony. A universal peace and 
calmness follow the ravages of the destruc- 
tive elements. Why should this be so? Be- 
cause all atoms have been brought together, 
governed by this law, then as quickly sep- 
arated; and, after having been hurled apart 
and crashing here and there, the similar par- 
ticles fall into harmony once more. 1 ' 

"I am fully conscious that any other state- 
ment of this law of vibration must, of neces- 
sity, be closely related to the theories of 
creation. It must fulfill a triple purpose; 
it must be not only cause and effect but the 
strange, indefinable, intermediate step that 
is the growth, as it were, of the real into 
the unreal. This triple purpose is revealed 
in the ceaseless action of the positive and 
negative qualities of every atom. In its 
power of repulsion and attraction, in its 
differences and similarities, this law gov- 
erns the slowly-dissolving elements of every 
period of the earth's formation from noth- 
ingness, nameless ether, into harmony of 
activity ; from this activity into form ; from 
form to organized being; from organized 

115 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

being into other forms of being which again 
dissolve, and again form, completing a cir- 
cle back again into nameless nothingness, 
ether, and the essence of force. When the 
vibrations grow gradually less, the form 
begins to be manifested and we have the 
atom, the molecule, the electric spark, the 
physical expression of life. 

"The freed spirit comprehends the laws 
of vibratory physical action. To know is to 
be outside of: hence, not until we have be- 
come disembodied, do we truly know. As 
disembodied spirits Ave cannot experience. 
That belongs to earth-life alone; it is an 
illusive teacher. Not until we cease experi- 
encing, can we grasp the law that governs. 
The subconscious mind, governed by this 
law, grasps it, adds to it, repels and at- 
tracts, and moulds itself over and over un- 
til, finally, you of earth-life, get a little ap- 
preciation of it." 

This is a new theory in the philosophy of 
man. But towards its proper comprehen- 
sion the thought of the twentieth century 
will be directed; and, with the mastery of 
the elementary principles will come greater 

116 



VIBRATION, 



appreciation of the future condition of man, 
in the life beyond the physical. 



117 



CHAPTEE XII. 

MATTER. 

ALL matter is composed of mole- 
cules, atoms and electrons. A 
molecule is made up of several 
atoms. For instance, a molecule of water 
is composed of three atoms, two of hydro- 
gen and one of oxygen. The atoms are very 
small, about one hundred thousandth of an 
inch in size, and yet sufficient in number to 
make up the mass of all the planets com- 
posing the solar systems of the universe. 
These small particles possess a force so won- 
derful that it is utterly impossible for man 
to follow and examine them, for the reason 
that they are constantly changing in their 
rapid passage. They pass through the ether 
with wave-like undulatory motion, and, like 
human beings, have their likes and dislikes. 
When they find their affinity, we have what 
is known as cohesion, for every particle of 
matter has an attraction for other parti- 

119 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

cles. These atoms have a force and a heat 
that all the furnaces of earth could not 
produce. Under certain conditions, how- 
ever, there may be a loss of heat, and, if 
it were possible, in the laboratories of earth 
to expel heat entirely from the atoms com- 
posing matter, it would become practically 
lifeless and inert. This, however, is impos- 
sible; therefore, while they possess heat 
and force, they may be solid, liquid and 
gaseous, in which latter condition they may 
be said to bump against each other, rebound 
and move freely through ether which not 
only joins with the atmosphere surrounding 
this planet, but connects far distant worlds ; 
and this ether, this subtle air, around and 
about us, permeates all substances. 

In the wondrous atoms, with their likes 
and dislikes, attracting other atoms through 
the ether and in continual action, we have 
force, motion and electrified heat. 

Atoms are split up and again subdivided, 
and those smaller particles are called elec- 
trons ; that is, they are electrified. In other 
words, they carry electrified points, not the 
electricity that we behold in the lightning 

flash or in magnet and coil, but a small sub- 
120 



MATTER. 

tie electricity which mortal man does not 
yet comprehend. Electrons, then, are really 
the electrified points of the sub-divided 
atom, the polarized particles, not one of 
which could be spared out of the universe. 
A single atom cannot be lost, it has its 
place, its power and its task to do. 

The world of matter is a world of change. 
Molecules changing, atoms changing, elec- 
trons changing, but the subtle spirit which 
permeates them is never lost. Each pos- 
sesses a spark of life-force from the great 
ocean of Infinity which is immortal. 

When we speak, ordinarily, of matter, we 
refer to sensible substances which offer re- 
sistance to the touch and to muscular effort, 
and which is indestructible an(d eternal, 
which reacts against external force, is per- 
manent and preserves its identity under 
all changes. Again, matter is everything 
that possesses the properties of gravity and 
attraction. 

While I am not able to state it as a fact, 

I am of the opinion, reasoning by deduction, 

that the laws of gravitation act only upon 

matter the vibration of which is so slow 

that it is physical ; that when the vibration 
121 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

is increased to what we know as spirit or 
mind, the law of gravitation no longer acts 
upon it; then the law of attraction is 
the dominating force. The force of gravita- 
tion is in direct lines only; the lines of at- 
traction reach in all directions. Gravita- 
tion then, acts upon the physical body only ; 
attraction, upon the mental state. And after 
separation from the body, the spirit, freed 
from physical substance, is free from the 
control and influence of the laws of gravita- 
tion, for which reason spirit people move 
freely and at will within the boundaries 
of their sphere. 

There is not in the physical universe, as 
far as known, a substance that is actually 
solid. A cubic inch of the hardest steel 
differs from a cubic inch of air only in 
the arrangement and position of its 
atoms and molecules. It is all a 
question of density and vibration. 
Could a magnifying glass be made powerful 
enough, what is known as solid matter 
would appear like dust floating in the sun's 
rays, for nothing is ever actually still. Na- 
ture abhors stagnation as it does a vacuum. 
All in the universe is matter, whether phy- 

122 



MATTER. 

sical or spiritual, composed of atoms and 
molecules attracted and associated in vary- 
ing and different degrees of density and 
therefore of vibration. xVU substance is, in 
fact, matter, whether it be visible or invis- 
ible, whether it be sensible to touch or elu- 
sive. In accordance with this theory of ad- 
vanced science, all matter is progressing in- 
to modes of motion, dissolving into activ- 
ity, and so shading off into that great reality 
that is all energy and life. 

Can there be energy without substance; 
does not everything that has expression 
necessitate substance? The idea that spirit- 
people exist but are unsubstantial is illog- 
ical and preposterous. The gases which 
compose water, taken separately, are as 
much substance as when united. The spirit- 
body is as much substance as a physical 
body. Why should it be considered impos- 
sible for mother nature to clothe spirits with 
substance so that, when separated from 
flesh, both should continue to exist as abso- 
lutely as when joined together? When we 
pass into the spirit-life, we have the same 
features, the same general contour, the same 
proportions, and we carry that normal con- 

123 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

dition wherever we go. Our shape, size, fea- 
tures and contour are determined by the 
spiritual atoms forming our spiritual per- 
sonality, and this continues through all 
spheres. Thus our identity, once estab- 
lished, exists in continuity with life, — re- 
maining always the same, being always com- 
posed of the same personal atoms. 

All that exists in positive condition is 
matter; intelligent forces permeate all ma- 
terial things, and are made manifest in mo- 
tion. Motion is moving matter. Matter, in 
a very high state of vibratory action, may 
be, and frequently is, classed as immaterial ; 
but, in reality, there is no immaterial thing ; 
an absolutely immaterial thing would be 
absolutely nothing — so-called immaterial 
things are conditions of matter in a very 
great degree of sublimation. We cannot 
conceive of anything made out of nothing. 

Electricity and magnetism are highly sub- 
limated conditions of matter; one step fur- 
ther finds us in the world of Spirit, which 
is a still greater degree of material sublima- 
tion. The electro-magnetic may be so near- 
ly related to the condition of spiritual sub- 
limation as to be the connecting link be- 

124 



MATTER. 

tween mind, or spirit, and matter; but we 
are not, as yet, able to grasp the condition 
of magnetic, electric, and spiritual vibration 
to any extent. Investigation causes growth 
step by step, until, by and by, we may un- 
derstand the force of electro-magnetism. 

Matter disappears from our vision, but re- 
appears to our senses. This thing called 
matter, which, in one state or another, is 
perfectly opaque, and will not permit a ray 
of light to pass through it, will in another 
form, which is spirit, become perfectly 
transparent. The cause of this wonderful 
change is beyond our comprehension. Sci- 
ence may say it is due to some attraction in 
the position or arrangement of atoms or 
molecules; but atoms or molecules, how- 
ever confident the "scientists" may be of 
their existence and of the laws that govern 
their attraction and repulsion, are beyond 
the reach of our physical senses. 

Substances dissolved in water or burned 
in the air, are not annihilated, for, by certain 
well known means, they can be recalled and 
restored to sight, some in exactly the same 
state as before they became invisible, others 
in some other state or condition. Matter is 

125 



THE FUTURE OF MAST. 

indestructible; if there is matter, there 
must be spirit, for matter is only the sub- 
stance that spirit uses for physical expres- 
sion. Spirit, whether it finds physical ex- 
pression or whether it exists apart from 
gross matter, as we use that term, is of 
primary importance and is the first subject 
for consideration, while the garment which 
makes life visible is only of secondary im- 
portance. One law, as we have shown, gov- 
erns all conditions in the physical as well 
as in the spirit planes; and whenever we 
find life-forces, they are clothed with either 
physical or spiritual material, which is mat- 
ter in different states of vibrations. So that 
the individual life, at dissolution, undergoes 
a change of vibration, like water changed 
into vapor; it is the same life still having 
form, feature, and expression, just as be- 
fore, but changed in its vibratory action, the 
atoms pulsate at a higher rate so 
that they are no longer visible to us. 
Though matter still, they pass from our 
sight like steam dissolved in air. 

Mind is matter, and day by day, and min- 
ute by minute, as it crystalizes, it takes defi- 
nite form and shape; and its cre- 

126 



MATTER. 

ations are clothed with substance. 
Some are given physical expression 
in works of art, inventions, books, and build- 
ings; but the great majority find expression 
in what we term spirit-matter, of which man 
comes to a full appreciation only as he 
passes into that sphere of usefulness. Mat- 
ter, in this physical world, is changed and 
fashioned by hands or by machinery made 
by hands, so low is its vibratory condition; 
but, as we ascend in the scale of life, thought 
becomes such a wonderful force that it can 
fashion, model and mould substances that 
vibrate in similar waves into actual forms 
of its own creations. In this way, the en- 
vironment that a spirit finds after disso- 
lution is found to be one that he has, per- 
haps unknown to himself, been creating by 
his acts and by his thought from day to 
day. 

Thought is the one great thing in the uni- 
verse. Formed and fashioned in the human 
brain, it is projected into the ether, that per- 
meates all things and all space, by laws we 
are not yet able to comprehend. It takes 
form and shape and awaits there 
our coming. The homes which spirit- 

127 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

people have, and the condition in and about 
them, their very location, depend on the 
life-work and thought action of the individ- 
ual. Everything is governed by law; noth- 
ing happens by chance ; cause and effect are 
as potent in the spirit plane as in the earth 
plane. These facts must be borne in mind : 
All is matter, here and hereafter; spirit- 
people have bodies; their identity never 
changes; they have homes; they are real; 
they are people; and they live after what 
we call death. 

On this subject, I am told: 

"Spirit is etherial matter — matter whose 
home is in ether, which is higher in vibra- 
tion than the atmosphere in which it for- 
merly existed. Each change into another 
sphere is a higher, more vitalizing vibration, 
until the emancipated spirit reaches a 
sphere of most intense vibration, which 
holds the power of life. Then it can impreg- 
nate matter in a lower material condition, 
and give it an atom of spirit to develop. 
The reason that man is continually growing 
in spiritual thought, is because as this force, 
this life-giving force, increases, it becomes 

128 



MATTER. 

stronger, and man is being equipped for the 
development of his spiritual being. 

"Matter includes all things that have con- 
tinued life, — and we know that nothing can 
die. Ether is the atmosphere of spirit-peo- 
ple. From each man in his natural condi- 
tion emanates spiritual ether. It is because 
of this atmosphere that we are able to come 
close to him, and thereby reach his sub- 
conscious mind." 

Spirit-material is nothing more than 
earthly matter raised to a higher degree of 
activity; while spirit-force is pure force. 
The physical world is a counterpart of the 
spirit world, but the latter is the reality. 

There are more than five avenues of 
knowledge. There is much about matter 
that we do not know. It is possible to pass 
matter through matter. Kecall the flowers 
heretofore mentioned, brought from a dis- 
tance, passed through the walls of the room 
in which we were, and reconstructed. How 
was it done? Spirit chemists know how to 
use this subtle electric power to reduce the 
atoms that are solid, to a gaseous state. 
Oxygen at low temperature and under pres- 
sure, can be transformed into a solid; it 

129 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

can also be reduced to a liquid and changed 
into ether. Physical substance, under such 
treatment, becomes gaseous and etheric, and 
may, by a similar process, be restored to its 
normal conditions. In this manner the 
flowers were de-materialized and again ma- 
terialized. The process was simply a chem- 
ical change. 

Savages rubbing sticks to produce fire, 
looked upon the traveler with suspicion and 
fear; but when they saw him produce fire 
with a match, their souls were filled with 
wonder. Spirit-people look with sorrow up- 
on the people of this generation, for the 
great majority, in their simplicity, are still 
rubbing sticks to obtain light, though the 
sun shines in the heavens. 



130 



CHAPTER XIII. 

LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE. 

THERE are many things that science 
does not know, and will never dis- 
cover, unless it abandons methods 
which limit and narrow its field of opera- 
tion. It has confined itself to the prescribed 
task of investigating gross matter, until 
even that has eluded its grasp in the form 
of simple force, and left it empty-handed. 
It has peered into the heavens with its tele- 
scopes and looked a little farther into mat- 
ter with its microscopes ; but it has come no 
nearer to the nature of things than it was in 
the beginning. 

When chemistry put the key of the physi- 
cal universe into its hands, it was enough to 
devote a century to the dazzling picture it 
revealed, — a century of concentrated and 
universal gaze at the world, out of whose 
dust our material bodies are made, and in 
which life-forces find visible expression; 

131 



THE FUTUKE OF MAN. 

but, having sat so long before the elemen- 
tary flames and having seen matter reduced 
to gas and force, and there stop, the world 
has become impatient at its inability to an- 
swer further questions. While we have been 
shown the component parts of our physical 
bodies, and how our actions are linked to 
the invariable energy of the universe, sci- 
ence has not explained us ourselves, nor 
analyzed us in its retort, nor measured us 
by the law of continuity. 

Chemistry has led to biology, this in turn 
to psychology, and this to sociology, history 
and religion ; and the patient world has, at 
last, growing dissatisfied, asked science to 
analyze consciousness, mind, thought and 
love; but science cannot meet those de- 
mands ; it has pushed its researches until it 
has reached confines beyond which it can- 
not go, though it does see forces which it 
cannot explain. Science starts with matter 
in its homogeneous state of diffusion, that 
is, at so-called rest and without action, 
either externally so, or as the result of ex- 
hausted force. Now, we ask whence comes 
this force? Science has no answer except 
that which is involved in the vague phrase 

132 



LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE. 

"unknowable cause," which is a contradic- 
tion of terms, since a cause with a visible 
result is, to that extent, known. The law 
of gravitation goes before its action. What 
of the origin of the law that acts on matter? 
Why does it begin to act on matter while 
at rest? Again, how do we pass from the 
functional action of the brain to conscious- 
ness? The scientists claim that the chasm 
is impassible. What, then, will they do 
with the fact and phenomena of conscious- 
ness? Again, what right has science, know- 
ing nothing of the origin of force, and, 
therefore, understanding nothing of its na- 
ture, to limit its action and potentiality to 
the "functional" play of organism? Again, 
they test and measure matter by mind, but 
if matter be tested and measured by mind, 
it is, as it were, one clod or crystal analyz- 
ing another. It is like getting into the 
scales with the thing to be weighed. 

Metapsychics is an entirely new philo- 
sophy, dealing with energy and life-forces, 
separate and apart from that material 
which the physical world terms matter, 
governed by entirely different laws and 
using new methods in its demonstrations. 

133 



THE FUTURE OF MAN*. 

It is greatly to be regretted that 
scientists, who have made such wonder- 
ful progress in knowledge of the ma- 
terial world, stand so much in awe of each 
other that yery few of them have had the 
courage to depart from their antiquated sys- 
tem of investigation. In the few instances 
where great minds have dared to investigate 
questions transcending physical science, 
they have been subjected to the ridicule and 
derision of the great majority of their fel- 
lows, who have not had the courage to ven- 
ture beyond old, accepted theories. To 
those who have had the courage of their 
convictions, and the breadth of mind to as- 
sociate this new philosophy with their own 
personalities, men like Sir Oliver Lodge, for 
example, great credit is due ; but physicists, 
as a class, have no right to come into this 
new field, for which they are so unqualified. 
Neither have they any right to criticize 
methods and means which they do not un- 
derstand; nor have they any right to say: 
"If there are laws that govern life-force 
apart from gross material, they must be dis- 
covered by us." Let them confine their ef- 
forts to their own field of matter and its de- 

134 



LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE. 

velopinent, and leave the study of life-forces 
to others who labor in new ways and who 
have to grapple with higher problems than 
those of physics. 

We, of the newer philosophy, demonstrate 
the limitations of science when we ask of it : 
"What is the relation of mind to the 
senses?" The observing senses are before 
the thinking mind. We might also ask: 
< k What is the nature of this thing that you 
call matter, which you think you can feel 
and see? But Jwiv do you see it, and how 
do you feel it? You do not know." 

We of the newer school, having, at least, 
nothing to unlearn, stand in no fear of the 
criticism of any man or class of men. Hav- 
ing discovered new and original methods by 
which we comprehend something of the 
economy of natural laws and coming, as we 
have, into direct communication with peo- 
ple in the after-life with whom we discuss 
such problems ; having been told something 
of these heretofore unanswerable questions 
— something of force, energy, mind, soul, 
spirit and its relation to matter, by men 
who have become truly great, we labor to 
increase the knowledge of mankind, and to 

135 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

gain a better appreciation of our place in 
nature and of our relation to her. 

The field is so vast, the questions are so 
great, the opportunities so limited, and the 
subject is so new, that we can at most ob- 
tain only a little knowledge, and enunciate 
only a few of the primary laws that govern 
all things animate and inanimate. 

There are sounds that our ears have never 
heard; there is light that our physical eyes 
can never see; there is an invisible world 
filled with people that few here ever imag- 
ined. And yet, discoveries are made from 
year to year of these invisible people and 
inaudible things, through the patient labors 
of earnest workers. Step by step, we grasp 
and comprehend these laws, each one based 
on those that go before. Crooke's tubes have 
been in use since 1878, and Roentgen's rays 
were in existence for nearly twenty years 
before their presence was even suspected. 
Just as the great invisible world was 
unknown, and just as those rays 
remained so long undiscovered, so 
even now there exist in the uni- 
verse spirit-people, and other rays, other vi- 
brations, of which, as yet, we have little 

136 



LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE. 

cognizance. The seemingly trivial observa- 
tions made by one worker, lead to useful ob- 
servations by another, and so progress 
makes its way, creeping from point to point ; 
and so, year by year, the sum-total of our 
knowledge increases, and our ignorance is 
rolled further and further back. Where 
there is darkness, there will be light; 
and where there was ignorance, there must 
come knowledge. Such is the law of mental 
evolution. 

Science, as such, deals only with gases, 
fluids and solids ; with length, breadth, and 
thickness. In such a domain, and amongst 
such phenomena, no hint, even, of future 
existence can be found; and science only 
says : "I find no report of it." 

In accounting for all things, shall we be 
limited to matter and force? Science says : 
"Yes, because matter and force are all we 
know or can know." Another school says: 
"Matter and force account for all things; 
thought, will and consciousness." Another 
admits the existence of something else, but 
claims it to be "unknowable." 

All that physical science is able to discern 
is matter in its lower conditions. The spirit 

137 



THE FUTURE OF MAN". 

world, as well as the physical, is a field of 
legitimate inquiry. The barriers that craft 
and superstition have erected are being 
swept away; the laws that govern the pro- 
cess of death are as well defined as those 
that govern the process of life. They are 
purely chemical and equally absolute and 
irrevocable. 

To the masses, spirit-life is a mystery; 
death a hopeless problem; while the world 
of the invisible, just another community all 
around us, cannot be comprehended by the 
average mortal mind. 

We have our limitations. Our work, 
Avhile not of, must center largely about, the 
physical, as the mind of mortal man cannot 
get far beyond the evidence that pertains to 
the physical senses. The revelations from 
the other world are only just begun, yet the 
effect upon the human mind is already mar- 
velous. The power of the new school to ac- 
complish great results is limited only by the 
perceptive capacity of the brain. The best 
way for each one is to pursue his own in- 
vestigations, to make his own demonstra- 
tions, until the force of the facts breaks up- 
on the inner consciousness. We are enter- 

138 



LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE. 

ing a great region of undiscovered knowl- 
edge which yet remains to be explored by 
those who search for truth. He who en- 
ters this field of intellectual labor, needs no 
preconceived beliefs, but a mind, like a sen- 
sitive plate, on which facts may be im- 
pressed. 

Through the avenue of metapsy chics we 
have seen that we may climb to many higher 
planes of thought. Physical science cannot 
accept that which it cannot define. The 
physicist must have a label on everything, 
and assumes that what is incomprehensible 
to him, must, necessarily, be false ! He says 
that he admits the existence of a soul, and 
then proceeds to tear the idea into shreds, 
leaving the mind of a man of average edu- 
cation in a state of complete chaos. Op- 
posed to this narrow and unsatisfactory 
method, which physical science has adopted 
in dealing with spiritual entities, the view- 
point of metapsychics is distinctly vital ; in 
other words, it maintains that the physicist, 
or the chemist, is unable to explain the prin- 
ciple of life without the aid of higher knowl- 
edge. And this fact alone shows the neces- 
sity for a philosophy of metapsychics. 

139 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE ATTITUDE OF SCIENCE. 

WE are apt, with our physical en- 
vironment, to stand in awe of 
so-called "Men of Science," and 
expect that all progress, spiritual as well as 
material, will come through them. 

I have never agreed with the methods 
adopted by them to prove the continuity of 
life. Many attempt to build their structures 
by tearing down; to establish a fact by a 
process of elimination; they try to prove a 
thing is so, by proving it is not so. This 
method, I am led to believe, is erroneous in 
dealing with forces beyond the physical 
plane. 

The judgment of spirit-people, with their 
greater knowledge and experience, is inter- 
esting. One now in spirit-life, who has ad- 
vanced far, made this startling statement 
which I have hesitated to publish : 

"All proper respect is due and payable to 

141 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

the man of learning. But when learning, be 
it the result of book-study, of experimental 
investigation, or of knowledge imparted 
from one to another, has the effect of mak- 
ing men self-important, so that they adopt 
such an attitude towards others as to imply 
that all wisdom and knowledge repose sole- 
ly and entirely in themselves, then I say that 
the so-called men of learning only make 
themselves ridiculous, and that the institu- 
tions which produce savants of this type are 
defective, and antagonistic to real intel- 
lectual progress. 

"No one has a greater feeling of respect 
and admiration than I have for men who 
have, by constant and patient effort, sought 
to unravel and explain those great laws of 
the universe, the proper understanding of 
which tends to help and to advance their fel- 
low-men. We all salute the man who does 
things; but we also feel contempt for that 
egotistic group of socialists, to be found in 
every country, who are always seeking to 
surround the laws of the universe with a 
hidden meaning, and to throw a halo around 
themselves and the cult they seek to organ- 
ize, by erecting an artificial superstructure 

142 



THE ATTITUDE OF SCIENCE. 

of baseless theory upon the facts already ex- 
plained by the earnest worker, who has by 
toil and study revealed some hitherto un- 
known law. The genuine scholar is a plain 
man of simple ways, somewhat reserved in 
his expressions and criticisms, because what 
he knows makes him diffident about speak- 
ing in an adverse manner of new proposi- 
tions which he has not investigated. But 
the self-satisfied man, who, because of the 
fact that he, by some chance, has become en- 
rolled among the members of a cult, pre- 
tends to know everything and dares to doubt 
everything, while in reality too shallow for 
thorough knowledge, is often found among 
so-called scientists. 

"Are there not notes in the scale too high 
in their vibration for mortal ear? Are there 
not colors belonging to the rays of the spec- 
trum, too rapid in their vibration to be de- 
tected by the mortal eye? Yes, of course. 
Why 'of course?' Because science has 
proved it ! Nonsense ! Let us ask ourselves, 
What is science? I will tell you what sci- 
ence is. It is the result of the determining 
of the why, and the wherefore, of a few of 
nature's laws that existed for ages before 

143 



THE FUTUKE OF MAN. 

this word science was invented. Poor mor- 
tal man! His opportunities for advance- 
ment have been one long succession of trials. 
First he was obliged to overcome his visible 
enemies and the fear of the wilderness; 
then, when he had gained a little confidence, 
a combination of men arose and ensnared 
him by fear of the so-called supernatural; 
and then, when he dared to tell that set of 
men, 'Begone' so that he might think alone ; 
behold! another set of men arose, who told 
him that he could think only as they should 
decide. 

"Pray, tell me, what has any man of sci- 
ence, no matter how arrogant his claims 
may be, accomplished to entitle him to say 
that he holds the key to all knowledge? For 
each discoverer of a new scientific principle 
by which the world is benefited, there are a 
hundred, who, if they had been guided by 
'science' only, would have remained all their 
lives in intellectual stagnation, but who 
have, with spirit-assistance, been able to en- 
large the boundaries of human knowledge 
by a proper application of nature's laws. 
If the word 'science' be confined to knowl- 
edge of the laws of the physical world mere- 

144 



THE ATTITUDE OF SCIENCE. 

ly, it covers only a small field. The laws of 
spirit are far more important than the laws 
of our bodily structure. Man's spiritual fu- 
ture is a grander field of inquiry than the 
principles of mechanics." 

Another said : 

"To treat the subject of psychic phenom- 
ena by analysis, as you would treat matter, 
is not within the province of mortals. The 
soul is the spirit, and can be apprehended 
by mortals only by the operation of a think- 
ing mind. 'Whence comest thou?' 'Whith- 
er goest thou?' These are the two great 
questions for all, and all must some day 
have the power to answer them. Would not 
a comprehensive knowledge of these ques- 
tions be of inestimable benefit to you in your 
earth-life? Many a great and grievous error 
might have been avoided, and many who suf- 
fer might have been made happy, had it been 
universally realized that the earth-life is but 
a. preparatory school for a future condition, 
where progress or retardment of progress is 
the result of one's own actions. 

"It is well that mortals should live the 
earth-life in accordance with the laws of na- 
ture, and not spend too much time in specu- 

145 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

lative thought as to the why and wherefore 
of his being; but good being the desire of 
all, or the necessary condition of all for ad- 
vancement, a true knowledge of the future 
state of the spirit is necessary that errors 
of life may not occur, through your own un- 
guided actions. 

"A knowledge of the continued life after 
passing from earth, cannot be determined 
by weighing, measuring, or comparing, as 
is done with material things; but by an ac- 
ceptance of truth, manifested by the power 
of mind. There having been no beginning, 
there will be no ending of nature or of nat- 
ural laws. Is it then to be said that mortal 
man is to be the sole exception in this eter- 
nal order of things? As you are, so shall 
you be. Your path lies onward; death, as 
you term it, being but a single step, an un- 
important change in the journey. Every- 
thing moves forward, nothing backward. 
The ending of mortal existence is but the 
first change to usefulness. You must not 
consider that the law that applies to con- 
stant improvement, does not apply to the 
lowest as well as to the highest in life. 

"The principle that leads some men of 

146 



1HE ATTITUDE OF SCIENCE. 

science to hold that the only trne laws are 
those provable by his deepest investigation 
and research, is a great error. After the 
limit of investigation has been reached, 
there are many more questions to be an- 
swered that are as yet unanswerable; this 
being so, you must seek for the answers by 
a process of philosophic reasoning. 

"Great minds require proof of small 
things, and this is right; but it does not 
require that great truths should be placed 
before great minds. Many minds of more 
simple attainment, grasp great truths much 
more easily than do minds which possess the 
quality of greatness." 

Another, who while in this life was a well 
known preacher, says: 

"I should like to add my mite to your 
epistle to the 'scientists' and to tell them 
that the life for which they try to find a 
scientific, materialistic reason, is as wonder- 
ful and as eternal as the universe ; they can- 
not end it by death, any more than they can 
produce it by artificial means. Life comes 
from the great force of a mighty blending of 
souls which permeates all things and all 
space; life enters in, and is taken up by the 

147 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

material atoms, when nature's law, which 
governs all things, deem the conditions in a 
productive state. The amount of this great 
force, which is retained by the being as it 
develops, depends largely upon the condi- 
tion of the soil in which it is planted. 

"All the talking, thinking and surmising, 
of all the minds in the world, cannot bring 
about the birth of a soul; and the great 
power that can generate a soul may be 
trusted to look after it justly and carefully 
after death. That death is the end, is a be- 
lief that a well balanced mind cannot ac- 
cept. Life would be but a futile thing, and 
all effort useless, if the future did not 
stretch before us endless and unlimited in 
its possibilities. Believe me, the justice that 
meets the naked soul, on the threshold of 
its spirit-life, is terrible in its completeness ! 
If the understanding of this truth could only 
reach people during earth-life, they would 
escape much sorrow, — sorrow intensified to 
a degree greater than earth-dwellers can 
conceive. " 

Great was my gratification to receive the 
following statement, from a man well known 
on earth, which I here give word for word : 

148 



THE ATTITUDE OF SCIENCE. 

"Tell your fellow-workers for me that I 
was working on a material plane all the 
years of my earth-life; that since I passed 
out, I have found that the material is but 
a fleeting thing in the real existence of the 
soul; that the nearer a man lets himself 
come to the spiritual, so as to accept sug- 
gestion and help from a higher source than 
the material, the nearer he will come to an 
understanding of life in its true sense. All 
these theories about another sense are rid- 
iculous and were begotten in the brains of 
clever men, who were unable to give up their 
own petty ideas. They wanted to create, to 
make the laws that govern the universe ; but 
I tell you that those laws have already been 
made, — they are fixed and unalterable, and 
the sooner the mass of mankind realizes this, 
and comes to a true and definite conception 
of the simplicity and justice of those laws, 
the sooner will they live lives fitted to carry 
them up the next step of progress. They 
must accept life and its governing forces as 
they are, at some period; therefore, the 
sooner the better. I am anxious to be the 
means of bringing light to some brilliant 
minds. But they must learn to accept the 

149 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

truth, to put themselves aside, and to realize 
that as it was in the beginning, it is now, 
and ever shall be. I am profoundly im- 
pressed with this fact: either men of sci- 
ence must grasp these higher laws, or let 
this new thought fall into other hands." 

I do not mean, by quoting from the speech 
of spirit-people, to attempt to belittle, if 
that were possible, the achievement of mod- 
ern scientific men, for they have done a great 
deal for material progress. But I do say 
that they have not done everything; for 
many great discoveries of nature's hidden 
laws have come from unknown and un- 
classed sensitive brains subject to spirit sug- 
gestion. 

The "scientists," as a class, are material- 
istic and know little of any forces outside of 
matter in its lower manifestations. But 
these men have made psychics respectable, 
and the world will ever remain indebted to 
them, for, by their personality, they have 
dignified research. 

Men like Alfred Russell Wallace, Sir Wil- 
liam Crooke, Sir Oliver Lodge, Camille 
Flammarion, Dr. Charles Richet and others 
have had sufficient greatness of mind to 

150 



THE ATTITUDE OF SCIENCE. 

break through the limited bonds of physical 
science, and to tell the world that there are 
laws in matter, and beyond matter, of which 
they have evidence, and that life continues 
beyond what is known as dissolution. 

This also has been said to me : 

"If men of science, with all their knowl- 
edge and eager quest for the how and where- 
fore of all things, would only consent to 
learn a little of something beyond their ac- 
tual touch! I know some do not deny the 
existence of life after death, but they spend 
all their time and effort in proving, to their 
own satisfaction, whether a few insignificant 
spirits really are whom they claim to be, 
instead of making their investigation digni- 
fied and useful by learning something of 
that future life, and the best way of getting 
ready to enter it." 

The present attitude of science is of no 
importance except as in so far as it pre- 
sumes wholly to preempt this field of re- 
search, which is the domain of the individ- 
ual. We can come as near to the heart of 
nature, and can understand the simple laws 
of life that find no physical expression, as 
they can who formed the hypothesis of the 

151 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

molecule and measure the stars. We have 
eyes, and we see what nature has created; 
and ears upon whose drums fall all the 
wealth of sound. We taste the fruits and 
smell the perfume of all that grows, and 
with our hands fashion and build what the 
brain conceives. The man of science has no 
other senses, and can do no more. 

I do honor those earnest men who have 
done so much for the material progress of 
the world. Their mastery of the physical 
side of nature has challenged the admira- 
tion of all, and the future, in so far as it re- 
lates to such matters, is largely in their 
keeping; but, in this field of psychic re- 
search, they are as yet trying to prove an 
axiom. I do question the methods adopted 
by them. The Master Mind has not reserved 
to any class the exclusive privilege of dis- 
covery. The University of Nature is the 
greatest institution in the world; its doors 
are thrown open to all who seek to know 
her ways, to which no coterie hold the key. 
Her vast treasure-house is full, and she gives 
with a prodigal hand. All who would know 
her wondrous laws, and thereby enrich 
themselves, must, by a process of elimina- 

152 



THE ATTITUDE OF SCIENCE. 

tion, free their minds, and, like children, 
approach the throne of knowledge. They 
may say these facts are not accepted by sci- 
ence, that I cannot demonstrate them by 
their man-made rules, that they are 
not evidential. This may all be 
true according to their understand- 
ing ; but I answer : many facts in 
nature are provable by laws in common 
use by those who have studied metapsychics, 
and it is the great desire of individuals in 
the great beyond that men of science adopt 
those laws, applicable only to matter in the 
higher conditions of vibration and discard 
in this field of investigation those laws that 
only apply to matter so slow in vibration 
that it is physical. If this be done they will 
enrich the spirit as they have enriched the 
material world. 



133 



CHAPTER XV. 

EVOLUTION. 

LITTLE is known of that constant 
force known as evolution, or of the 
great laws that govern the process of 
advancement. I have eagerly sought infor- 
mation on this subject, have discussed it 
with many men in the next sphere beyond 
and have been told, among other things : 

"A most encouraging indication of the 
progress of the present age is the fact that 
a few great thinkers and demonstrators of 
nature's laws have been able to grasp condi- 
tions beyond the physical, and are giving 
such information to mortals, who, because 
of their environment and duties, have not 
been able to solve for themselves these great 
problems. 

"You ask me to say something concern- 
ing evolution, meaning that gradual, and yet 
positive, change in the world's condition 
that has finally resulted in thinking man- 

155 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

kind. So be it. Then is not what I have 
just said a most wonderful and beautiful 
illustration of the progressive realization of 
the Master's great purpose — the gradual, 
yet positive, improvement of matter until 
an observant and grateful mortal is the final 
result? 

"God, as you use the word, is the All. 
That is apparent to every thinking brain. 
Being, then, that All, God cannot be a per- 
sonality; every bit of matter is a part and 
parcel of that All ; every force in nature is 
an expression of the presence of that All; 
and every thinking brain is a more or less 
perfect functional part of that All. 

"To a sane and appreciative, active brain, 
free alike from arrogance and illusion, the 
proposition that mortal man is made in the 
perfect image of his Master, God, is the ex- 
treme of egotistical blasphemy. Far better 
is the expression of your countryman, Rob- 
ert G. Ingersoll, that "Man has made God 
in his image. " That part of mortal man 
that is in any degree like his Master is his 
thinking brain; otherwise, man is but an 
expression, in his form and physical func- 
tions, of that process of evolution spoken of 

156 



EVOLUTION. 

as environment. All that is great in man 
is mind, and this greatness increases as he 
rises to the level of the ideal, the Master- 
Mind. 

"In a previous discussion, I mentioned the 
fact that we spirit-people do not always 
agree on many subjects of which we have no 
actual proof or convincing evidence, and so 
as regards the early stages of earth and the 
subsequent changes up to the existence of 
man, many among us differ; but I am safe 
in saying that the best informed hold that 
there has been a constant refining process 
of earth-matter since the cooling of the evi- 
dently original vaporous particles that grad- 
ually, by loss of heat, become solidified into 
rock and water ; and that as the chaotic con- 
dition gradually assumed a proper separa- 
tion upon cooling and solidifying, the pro- 
cess of refining gross matter began, and by 
the action of element upon element, of sub- 
stance upon substance, the erosion of the 
primitive rock occurred, with the result of 
eliminating the fine from the gross ; and, by 
the action of water in causing sedimentary 
deposits and the raising or lowering of the 
sedimentary or refined rock, and the conse- 

157 



THE FUTURE OF MA1ST. 

quent re-refining process, chemical action 
was allowed to come into play, resulting in 
a continuation of the process whereby gross 
matter is refined. Necessarily, as the cool- 
ing mass must have constantly given off 
heat, and also absorbed a certain amount of 
heat by chemical action, there came a period 
when the earth's crust could support the 
first life, vegetation. This vegetable life it- 
self is but the chemical product of certain 
parts of refined matter, resulting from the 
gradual solidifying of the gaseous vapors 
fixed in space by the action of some of the 
planets undergoing a change. 

"As regards the earth's actual beginning, 
there is no authentic knowledge among spir- 
it-people. A theory based upon sound prem- 
ises may be regarded as a general statement 
of the truth. From a knowledge of exist- 
ing conditions, comparative reasoning can, 
and does, draw correct deductions, and so 
men of scientific attainments have, by study 
and investigations, demonstrated much that 
is not only evidence, but that may be said 
to be actually demonstrated. 

"Among the best informed of the spirit- 
people the growth of a new planet results 



EVOLUTION. 

from the fixing in space, by the existing stel- 
lar system, — owing to that great principle 
of nature known as the law of gravitation, 
of some mass of matter revolving wildly 
through the universe, and the placing of it 
in a position of harmony with other masses 
of matter or planets. So must the earth 
have been caught when in its state of mo- 
tion and vaporous matter, conditioned by 
its flight through space, not by any friction 
of the particles of its mass against the so- 
called ether, but because of the unusual dis- 
turbance of the particles of the mass among 
themselves; and also, because of the latent 
heat imparted to the runaway mass of mat- 
ter that may be considered the nucleus of 
your planet. When finally caught and held 
in its place of rest, by that great principle 
of gravity, as iji its mad career it came into 
the lines of force existing from other plane- 
tary bodies, by gradual degrees, its speed 
was steadied and, slowly but surely, it fell 
into that correct and dignified motion that 
is consistent with the laws governing 
planets, and it became one of the necessary 
keystones in the constellations of which it 
must have been elected a member. And so 

159 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

a new planet was born. Man has since 
called it earth. All the essentials of the 
present conditions existed at the very be- 
ginning of the earth's creation, have ever 
been, and are now, stored away in the mass 
of fugitive matter. 

"Evolution is but the action of that great 
power called by mortal man, God, but which 
really is the process of refinement and puri- 
fication of gross matter until the resultant 
product is living thinking mortal man, and 
then the intellectual man. The next step in 
that ever-changing, ever-progressing evolu- 
tion, is the endowment of that physical, in- 
tellectual man, with what we call spirit. 

"As each and every particle of matter de- 
pends upon some other particle of matter 
to allow of that progressive refinement 
spoken of, so is it throughout the entire 
chain, and spirit-people are as necessary to 
physical people as the gas exhaled from the 
lungs of living animalism is for the growth 
of vegetation, or as the refined chemical 
vegetable combinations are to animal life." 

The origin of life has been, and ever will 
be, a great mystery, until such time as we 
shall, by progression out of the body, come 

160 



EVOLUTION. 

to a greater understanding of life force. We 
all know something of the process by which 
all planetary life, both animal and veget- 
able, is started ; but the principal process of 
inoculation of matter with life-forces, is 
practically unknown, though we do know 
that it is governed by law. In the discus- 
sion of this great problem of the origin of 
life, we must take matter into consideration 
in its different vibratory conditions, from 
the generic rock to the Universal Mind. 

As I have said before, when life, in its evo- 
lution, progresses so that it has power of 
thought and constructive reasoning, it has 
reached a stage of individualism that can 
never be lost. This power of thought and 
constructive reasoning, then, is the line of 
demarcation which determines whether the 
particular life force is to continue and hold 
individuality beyond the physical, or pass 
into some other form of gross matter. There 
is no matter in the universe which does not 
possess atomic energy, and, therefore, life- 
force. When matter is brought to the prop- 
er state of vibration by physical action, and 
sufficiently refined; when, in other words, ac- 
cording to a natural law, temperature is in- 

161 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

creased and matter is rendered receptive be- 
cause of its activity, an atom of Universal 
Good, of life-force, inoculates, enters into it, 
and it becomes clothed, and after the re- 
quired period of gestation and growth, there 
is a physical birth. 

It is, in reality, matter acting on matter; 
refined matter, or spirit, clothing itself with 
grosser material, thus obtaining physical ex- 
pression and individuality. The atom of 
Good that finds individual expression in 
every birth is from the great ocean of In- 
finite Mind or Universal Good. Prior to 
conception, it was not individual ; but from 
that moment it commences its journey back 
to the sphere of Exaltation, the highest men- 
tal state of which we can have any knowl- 
edge. 

This life-force that finds expression in 
mankind, or in the animal or vegetable king- 
dom, is all from the same source; but just 
what it develops into depends upon the char- 
acter of the matter with which it is clothed, 
and its evolution, to a large extent, depends 
upon subsequent environment. 

Species have always been, and will always 
be, distinct in character. You cannot make 

162 



EVOLUTION. 

a radical change except to improve it. Na- 
ture has created all species for distinct pur- 
poses; nothing lives that has not a place 
and a purpose. Whether man understands, 
appreciates, and comprehends this fact or 
not, it is true. It would be the changing of 
a natural law to change species. 

Evolution, then, starts on the earth plane 
with an atom of Universal Good, clothed 
and individualized in this sphere of develop- 
ment and of preparation for the real life, 
which only commences with physical disso- 
lution. Evolution is forward, not backward. 
The atom of life-force, which finds physical 
expression here, prompted, urged, and 
taught by spirit-intelligences as well as by 
parental suggestion, develops; and, at 
some time very early in life, comes to 
use reason; wants to know; thinks; looks 
upon the wonders of earth and sk} r and mar- 
vels. That life, so started upon its journey, 
growing to maturity, and passing to greater 
opportunity, by laws as irresistible as force, 
goes on and on, with but one opportunity 
for physical development, while he, a mor- 
tal being, journeys upon this globe. There 
is no coming back to live this life over again ; 

163 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

no reincarnation; but everlasting and con- 
tinued progress and development. Evolu- 
tion springs from the desire to know, to see, 
to feel, to understand and to grasp all nat- 
ural laws; and, as the individual grows, be- 
comes more refined, and increases the ratio 
of his thought vibration, he reaches 
higher planes in the progress of his earth 
development. 

Evolution is not confined to life-force, but 
matter, as we use that term, develops in a 
corresponding degree. Of this we have ma- 
terial evidence. 

There are three perceptible stages in the 
evolution of form: (a) Increase in the 
mass; (b) decrease in the stability of the 
molecules; (c) increase in the activity of 
the substances. The evolution of each ma- 
terial form comes by adding atom to atom 
in their dimensions, making distinct the 
unity of composition existing between the 
mental states, all pulsating at a higher and 
higher rate. This is positive evidence of 
evolution. 

"Evolution means progress, higher devel- 
opment. Each vibratory atom must go 
through each stage of vibration before it can 

164 



EVOLUTION. 

be fitted for the fullest perfection. The 
story of evolution may be seen in the grain 
of wheat. It is planted and then develops 
through each successive stage until it be- 
comes nourishment for man, and thence its 
development is a part of a soul's progress; 
and eventually it becomes a part of the life- 
force, and generates life-force into another 
grain of wheat, and each new grain that 
reaches the life-force enriches it and makes 
more powerful that force, so that, while it 
completes a perfect circle, yet it is always 
growing greater and more perfect. Thus 
evolution is constantly repeating itself on a 
larger scale each time." 

Wherever there is life-force there must be 
thought. There is intelligent action embod- 
ied in every seed that has a living germ. 
The acorn has sense enough to send its roots 
into the earth, its trunk and branches into 
the air, and to choose for food for root and 
branch, such elements as will make the oak 
tree, and to reject such elements as would be 
proper only for the pine. All grass has the 
same kind of intelligence in choosing food, 
and the power of choice must involve the 
power of thought. All the laws of nature, 

165 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

being universal in their application, apply 
to all life alike; what is true of the grain 
of wheat is true of man. The evolution of 
one is similar to that of the other, and is 
destined to increase the life-force of the uni- 
verse. Knowledge is a pyramid with its 
base buried in the organic, towering higher 
and higher as it increases; and crowning 
the whole, embodying all of nature's handi- 
work, is the master-builder, man. What 
could be grander, more noble and beautiful, 
than the human mind at work under the 
guidance and suggestion of spirit-people, 
who have progressed beyond the comprehen- 
sion of earth conceptions? 

Evolution began with the primeval, nebu- 
lous mass, in which was held, potentially, all 
future worlds. Under evolutionary laws the 
amorphous cloud broke up, condensed, took 
definite shape and, in time, assumed a grad- 
ually increasing complexity. Finally, there 
emerged the cooled and finished earth, high- 
ly differentiated; and there was given us 
the breeding ground for the inception of life 
and for the organization of the elements in- 
to the first relation of sentient^form. What 
has passed in history many know, but what 

166 



EVOLUTION. 

evolution finally leads to in its progression, 
mortal man will never know. That is the 
province of spirit-people. 

When they have passed out of the earth 
conditions, because of evolutionary laws, 
spirit-people have beautiful flowers, far 
away hills, majestic mountains, leaping 
brooks, blossoming orchards, musical birds, 
the storm and lightning flash, the disturbed 
ocean, the clearing sky and the setting sun 
with tints of many colors. All that we have 
is but an imitation of the reality which be- 
longs to their sphere only. Of course, what 
they have differs from what we have be- 
cause of a higher and more rapid vibration, 
but the effect is similar. 

The tendency of all life, wherever 
found or however clothed, is to perfect, 
improve, increase, and extend its sphere of 
usefulness. This is evolution. It is a fact, 
a law and not a theory, and its possibilities 
are as boundless as the imagination. The 
work of ages begun by nature has no apex. 
Evolution is advolution. It does not stop 
with the organic ; its future is greater than 
its past, and from spirit-people only can 

167 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

come such facts as will make the physical 
world comprehend its possibilities. 



168 



CHAPTER XVI. 

BEYOND THE ATOM. 

WE are told that atoms, through 
their power to change from one 
form into another, always fol- 
low the law of definite proportions; and 
that, in obedience to that law, they are 
amenable to the will of intelligent force. 
Outside of the operation of this law, they 
are incapable of being controlled in any 
known way. This would place them beyond 
the category of mortal mind, and make 
them, to some extent, superior to it. 
The atom holds within itself the 
properties of all forms and material things. 
It is the central point from which universal 
creative energy proceeds. It is the basis of 
all power that manifests form or force. It 
is indestructible in its nature; its existence 
is regulated by definite and fixed laws ; and 
the substance into which it enters is held 
in position, as regards form, by the inherent 
energy of the atoms composing that form. 

169 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

The atom, alone, has eternal duration of 
form, for it alone has the power to enter 
and dominate all other forms. It has no 
master except force, and to force alone is it 
amenable. Whether force precedes it, or is 
co-existent with it, is not now known; but., 
probably, the same force which impels the 
atom upon its course with unerring pre- 
cision, precedes it in the province of crea- 
tive evolution. Beyond the atom is an in- 
telligence which has imbued it with these 
properties and powers. 

Man, reflecting the image of wisdom, 
boastingly asserts his authority over the 
rest of creation; but he is ever subject to 
the power vested in the atom, and only as 
he reflects the activity of the elements in 
his own structure, is he able to rise to an 
intellectual status whereby he can compre- 
hend the more simple laws of constructive 
energy. 

This is one of the reasons why we are 
obliged to take into serious consideration 
the existence of invisible intelligences, who 
understand how to manipulate the forces 
distinctly pertaining to the evolution of the 
world of spirit. Numerous experiments 

ISO 



BEYOND THE ATOM. 

have demonstrated beyond question 
that they exist. And that spirit-intel- 
ligences understand how to affect these 
forces in form, is neither untrue nor absurd. 
The failure to grasp this fact is really due 
to our own contracted minds, which are 
prone to limit all elements to the sphere of 
phenonemal physical conditions. We must 
conclude, then, that the same energy which 
controls and directs the movements of 
atoms and molecules, which sustains in 
position, and directs the course of stars and 
constellations, which finds life-expression in 
grass and in grains, in weeds and in flowers, 
in forest trees and in all vegetable growth, 
applies equally to man whose physical body, 
like all vegetable matter, is composed of 
atoms. 

As we ascend in the scale of conscious 
intelligence, the universe opens to our men- 
tal vision and gives us a basis for a broader 
conception of the intelligent force under- 
lying the physical universe. When we con- 
sider the law of life, in all its varied rela- 
tion to visible and invisible form, we un- 
derstand how rational is the proposition 
that the great law of nature has its exist- 

171 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

ence entirely above and beyond the physical 
realm. Theologians of the past, having no 
definite knowledge of creative energy, form- 
ulated a theory of the source of life ending 
in mere abstraction. Their logical position 
was this: "God is the source of life. God 
made the world and all upon it and in it, 
by a fiat, a decree, of His own free will." 
This is only a confession of gross ignorance 
and manifests a childish inability to pro- 
duce satisfactory evidence concerning the 
subject. It shows the utter incapacity of 
the human intellect, dominated by supersti- 
tion, to discern any relation of force beyond 
the range of physical senses. 

Human progress may be rapid or slow, 
according to the effort expended; but the 
atomic forces are ever at our disposal, and 
we can move forward as we will, regardless 
of the craft of men or the opposition of ig- 
norance. It must be acknowledged that the 
human intellect is unable to discern the re- 
lations of cause and effect in many of the 
problems that come before it for solution; 
and there lingers around the subject of the 
life action of the elements an idea that they 
are as far beyond the scope of intelligent 

172 



BEYOND THE ATOM. 

explanation, as the results themselves are 
beyond the unorganized forms of the same 
elements. 

What, then, is this energy, this intellect- 
ual force, which is back of the atom and 
expressed in or through it? What or who 
controls and directs its movement with per- 
fect precision? Some call it energy; some 
force; some nature; and others call it 
God. 

The word "God" is so indefinite ! I doubt 
if those who utter the word with reverence, 
have ever formed any definite idea of the 
creator; and those who think He has per- 
sonality, have little comprehension of the 
universe. If God has personality, in the 
accepted sense of the word, He must be a 
person with extraordinary powers and in- 
telligence, for, by the law of comparison, 
ideas themselves must be formed. 

God, I am told, means simply Universal 
Good. Apart from the philosophical sig- 
nification of the word, this is its 
true philosophical import. Let me ex- 
plain what I understand by the divine 
principle. The life force in all things, — 
the intelligence that directs matter in move- 

173 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

ment and works out the laws governing all 
things, — is but the intelligence of all those 
who have lived in this sphere or inhabited 
other planets, who, having progressed be- 
yond the physical plane, have mastered all 
knowledge and are working in perfect har- 
mony, as one mind, in a sphere of perfectly 
harmonious development; and in that 
sphere the mind power is universal, per- 
meates all space, and finds individual ex- 
pression in all life forms. The inclination 
within us to do right and to shrink from 
wrong is that atom of Universal Mind 
which, clothed with matter, becomes a man, 
while the same law that governs an atom, 
governs all mankind. The energy of the 
atom is its potential life-force, and the life 
force in it or in us, is Universal Good work- 
ing out its destiny. 

Life-force dominates all matter. The 
whole physical world outside of planetary 
action and natural growth and change, may 
be largely governed, in its movement and 
direction, by man. 

Matter operates on matter, and inert sub- 
stances in the physical world move only 
when directed by the material mortal mind. 

174 



BEYOND THE ATOM. 

The power of even one man's thought is be- 
yond present comprehension. Man has 
taken iron, and fashioned it into machinery 
with which he moves great buildings. He 
has taken coal, converted it into steam, 
which, confined and released, utilizes en- 
ergy that will transport material to the 
limit of land; then, using like energy, he 
propels great ships over the sea, fashions 
sails and makes the very winds do his will. 
He has put a turbine under the waters, 
whose fall he directs; on the shaft a dyna- 
mo, which the waters whirl ; he gathers and 
condenses the very ether into what we call 
electricity. Mind is all creative. The 
hands but fashion what the mind con- 
ceives. 

Not content with dominion over matter 
sensible to physical touch, he reaches out 
into the atmosphere, and utilizes the very 
elements, — and the end is not yet. Only he 
who consciously progresses comprehends 
the possibilities of progress. Does the mas- 
tery of mind end with physical dissolution? 
Does death increase or diminish opportun- 
ity? Life would be futile if all the strug- 
gle for development were to end with earth- 

175 



THE FUTURE OF MATT. 

existence. While our conception of mind 
domination has its limitations, its possibili- 
ties are even now beyond our comprehen- 
sion and one fails to appreciate the power 
of even a single mind. The energy produced 
in the electric current is as marvelous to 
the savage as the energy of the atom is to 
science, and as little understood. 

We may follow, step by step, mind-power 
in mortal man, witnessing his control and 
his mastery over matter and the elements 
of the air: but, before we reach the limits 
of definite thought, we appreciate in a lim- 
ited way that, if individuality and mind 
continue beyond the physical domain, man 
is still exercising his mental faculties, still 
studying and applying his intelligence to ob- 
tain greater control over matter in the con- 
ditions of the life beyond, — and the nucleus 
of all this action is the energy of the atom. 

Whether we can appreciate this fact or 
not, it is true that, as men grow in knowl- 
edge in the after-life, they work in greater 
harmony with each other; many minds, in 
many ways, work as one, much more there 
than here, and accomplish greater results in 
a thorough, practical way. Science attrib- 

176 



BEYOND THE ATOM. 

utes these results to the unknowable; those 
of less understanding, to God. The individ- 
ual mind when released from its physical 
environment acquires greater mastery and 
power. Considering what men can do here 
and their control of the electric force alone ; 
knowing that they live on in a constant 
state of progression, it requires no stretch 
of imagination to perceive that the same 
persons are ever exercising their reason and 
obtaining greater knowledge, increased ef- 
ficiency and usefulness, and, as this is being 
accomplished, their dominion over matter 
increases. Man creates nothing; the en- 
ergy that he uses was dominant in the atom 
at the beginning; he, by combination or de- 
composition, only gets another and greater 
expression. 

Beyond the atom we find minds, that have 
at some time lived in a physical body, work- 
ing in unison and combining substances 
that will endow matter with energy which 
will give expression to life force in the ma- 
terial. In fact, all there is, is mind, 
matter is the substance used in its 
physical expression only; mind alone is 
creative energy. Men, who have lived in 

177 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

this or sortie other planet or constellation 
of the universe, who have passed out of the 
physical world that they inhabited, have, 
after countless ages of progression, reached 
the sphere of knowledge, and work as one, 
finding expression in every form of life and 
force. Thus, beyond the atom we find, not 
God, but mind. 

I once asked a spirit : "What is the force 
that finds expression in the atom?" He 
replied : 

"It is the individual man, purified and 
developed to his highest capacity, and 
blended with other minds in a similar con- 
dition. Guided by the knowledge gained 
through vast intervals of time, and working 
in perfect harmony with each other, these 
minds are the controlling power of the uni- 
verse. I say 'controlling' for they, in turn, 
are but instruments of the dominating laws 
of the universe. They make these laws, to 
be sure, but, these laws must be of one kind 
for nature aspires to good. They progress 
through a condition of intellect bounded by 
mortality, into a new development until the 
circle is completed, and a harmonious whole 
is formed. It is a vast subject to compre- 

178 



BEYOND THE ATOM. 

hend, and yet, once grasped, it is perfectly 
clear. What other theory calculated to sat- 
isfy rational minds, has ever been put for- 
ward, than that the intelligence should ulti- 
mately become so effective that, combined 
with all the rest, it should be the highest 
force for good? Everyone must feel, and 
appreciate, that thus only can the inferior 
order of minds be guided toward their ulti- 
mate goal. This is the only philosophy of 
existence which, when once fully under- 
stood, seems true, reasonable and convinc- 
ing." 



179 



CHAPTEK XVII. 

THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND. 

THE physical and the spiritual uni- 
verse are closely interrelated. There 
is a physical brain and there is a 
spiritual brain, and they have relations to 
each other which cannot be ignored. All 
that is physical has its duplicate in spirit, 
but all that is in spirit does not have its 
duplicate in the physical. 

It must not be forgotten that the earth- 
sphere is a natural world; and that the 
spirit-world is also a natural world. The 
relation of the one to the other is, therefore, 
natural. In a physical sense, mind is mem- 
ory, thought is that which feels, 
which wills, — the conscious subject. Again 
it is the ego, the soul, the spir- 
it; it is all these and some- 
thing more; it is something that catches 
suggestion from the intelligence of other 
spheres and ex-presses it in this sphere. 

181 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

Let us now deal with the world of mind, 
with special reference to the subconscious 
mind, which immeasurably transcends in 
importance the physical domain. Science 
has tried hard to explain many things on 
the hypothesis of "mental telepathy," 
"secondary personality" and "subliminal 
consciousness" in its efforts to understand 
spirit-phenomena; when, as a matter of 
fact, it knows but little about the subject. 
Suppose one mortal should try to send a 
thought message to another at a distance. 
What natural law is used? No wire; no 
wireless instruments; merely a sentence 
sent out through space, encountering in its 
passage countless millions of other 
thoughts of different kinds. What is the 
motive power? What directs its course? 
And, if it should, by chance, reach the ear 
of the person intended, by what process will 
he hear something that comes in the silence, 
but not out of it? Why advance a theory 
that is not based on a single known law? 
The Marconi system has instruments per- 
fectly adjusted and in tune with each other, 
and, by laws that are understood, are able 
to receive a signal sent by the sending to 

182 



THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND. 

the receiving instrument. We, too, have an 
instrument, to wit — the human brain, far 
more complicated and wonderful, and the 
time may come when mental telepathy is 
practical, though it is not now. 

I know that thoughts and messages are 
at times carried from one mortal to another, 
but it is a rare occurrence. Ordinarily some 
one in the spirit-world hears the message, 
and becoming a messenger, finds the person 
for whom the message is intended, and im- 
presses the words on his subconscious mind. 
This will be easily understood when human 
beings come to appreciate this community 
of spirit-people who dwell about, yet not 
with, us. Mental telepathy is, in fact, sug- 
gestion, much used by spirit-people. In 
aiding and directing the conduct of mortals 
such practice is common with them, and it 
is hard for us to differentiate between self 
and spirit-suggestion, so vague is the border 
line. Thought-suggestion between mortals 
is possible, but unusual. 

There is but one self, but one individual 
atom of good in any person; and though 
that person may, at times, do and say 
things of which he has no knowledge and 

183 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

which cannot be accounted for by any 
known physical laws, that fact does not 
double, or change his personality. This is 
called "secondary personality." It is pos- 
sible for spirit-people, upon rare occasions^ 
to take a mortal out of his body, and enter- 
ing into his living body, use his vocal or- 
gans. This is not uncanny, but simple and 
natural. If one, under proper conditions, 
tells of things of which he had no previous 
information, which, upon investigation, are 
found true, it was not another self but some- 
one else talking; for by what law could 
that second self know what the first self 
did not know? And so with "subliminal 
consciousness," that is, something below 
sensation : the doing of acts without being 
aware of it. These words, coined by men 
seeking a material solution of problems not 
understood, have no justification in fact, 
they are misleading and the theory is er- 
roneous. 

When those who coined the words "men- 
tal telepathy," tell us what law is used 
in its operation; when they tell us how 
it is possible to have two personalities ; and 
where the one is and what it is doing when 

184 



THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND. 

the second self is present; and a little of 
what is meant by "subliminal conscious- 
ness," they will be entitled to more consid- 
eration. 

The answer to these last two propositions 
is the spirit-hypothesis based on fact and 
founded on natural law. The subconscious 
mind, when understood, will eradicate those 
senseless words from the vocabulary, and 
solve many problems with which man is 
struggling. 

I asked one far advanced in spirit-life to 
tell me of the subconscious mind from his 
point of view, and he said : 

"The conscious mind is one controlled by 
yourself. In it are held all the material 
parts of your thoughts, — I mean those con- 
nected with and controlled by, earth- 
things. The subconscious mind is the 
one controlled by psychic forces en- 
tirely. It is the spiritual brain of man. 
I mean, that it is subject to the laws of 
vibration, which the other part of the brain 
is not sensitive enough to catch. It is the 
subconscious mind that gets suggestion 
from spirit-people, the connecting link, or 
battery, that for an instant holds the sug- 

185 



THE FUTURE OF MAN", 

gestion, and passes it on, to grow into a 
thought or impulse. The subconscious mind 
does not retain suggestion. It is the em- 
bryo thought, which takes definite form 
only as it reaches the conscious mind." 

From this concise statement of fact it is 
evident that all the strange phenomena, 
which science has been trying to solve and 
to which it has given many names, consist, 
ordinarily, of spirit-people hearing the 
spoken words or seeing the written message, 
then finding the person desired and impress- 
ing the words or message on the subcon- 
scious mind or spiritual brain. When the 
conscious mind catches the suggestion and 
makes it a part of the material thought, we 
have what is called mental telepathy, which, 
in fact, is, except on rare occasions, all ac- 
complished by spirit-people acting upon the 
subconscious or psychic brain. 

Speaking on this subject generally, one in 
the world beyond said : 

"It is well, always, to consider that a re- 
sult is equivalent to the effort put forth. 
The intensity and constancy of a thought 
are a positive force. A thought, bearing 
upon any particular subject, having been 

186 



THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND. 

thoroughly established iu the brain, grows 
just as a plant grows from the seed, As 
the development of that seed will be pro- 
portionate to the conditions of the soil and 
the amount of sunshine and moisture, so is 
it with the growth of thought," 

"Thought is planted in the human brain 
by the next great power beyond mortal man, 
sown in the form of suggestion, and, as with 
the seed sown by the master hand of man, 
so it is with the suggestion sown, largely, by 
the master hand of spirit forces. Some are 
given birth and grow and fully develop in 
all their importance and beauty; but many 
— by far the great majority — fail of birth. 
Where the latter condition prevails, the hu- 
man brain must, by a process of purifica- 
tion, be made receptive until it can catch 
and give birth to the seeds of suggestion 
sown. 

"Progress is the grand object of nature. 
This word 'progress' is one of mighty import 
to the material world, and true progress 
Is possible only when those who have ad- 
vanced to a higher plane help those who arc 
still struggling upward. This applies to 
all things, material, intellectual, and spirit- 

187 



THE FUTURE OF MAK 

ual. 'Nature has imposed on us spirit- 
beings the duty of assisting those mortals 
in the "body by such suggestion as toe can 
impart to them through the subconscious 
brain; and so, likewise, there are some 
among us to whom suggestions are im- 
parted by those in the grade immediately 
above us. 

"As on earth there are weeds, as well as 
useful grain and beautiful flowers, so among 
your people are there apparently worthless 
mortals ; but who can say when or how the 
weeds, following the great law of progress, 
will evolve into useful or beautiful plants; 
and yet, as simple weeds, may they not 
serve a great, if hidden, purpose? And so 
with those among you who, according to 
your judgment, appear worthless. Do not 
forget that the same Master-hand that cre- 
ated them, created you ; and that it is bet- 
ter not to criticize, but to endeavor to get 
an expression of the intent of their condi- 
tion. Always have charity. If you do not 
possess it, secure and cultivate it. 

"What I have said this beautiful Sunday 
morning, is a sermon to you, the lesson of 
which is: Let those thoughts that come as 

188 



THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND. 

suggestions flashed upon the sensitive plate 
of jour brain, upon your subconscious 
mind, grow. Cultivate them. As they 
develop, they gain in strength, and as the} 7 
become strong in themselves, they can, by 
their own strength, and because of the 
emanations they throw off, accomplish 
deeds. Whatever comes to the subconscious 
mind must be at once grasped and held, if 
you would make it your own. Then the 
thought is fashioned and developed to be- 
come again a part of the universal stream 
that flows into the Eternal Mind." 

The average so-called man of science 
seems determined not to accept the spirit 
hypothesis of psychic phenomena, and of- 
fers many other explanations while going 
through his erroneous process of elimina- 
tion; but truth existed before, and will be 
after, his futile struggle is over, and he may 
be among the last to understand this simple 
law. 

Sir Oliver Lodge, the foremost scientist 
of the present day, who acknowledges the 
existence of an invisible world of spirit- 
people and has proved it to his own satis- 
faction, says: "The object is to get, not 

189 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

something dignified, but something evi- 
dential." It seems to me that when 
one has proved the existence of a thing, he 
would like to know something about the 
thing proved and not try to prove it again. 
Having long ago proved the existence of the 
invisible world of spirit-people, I have not 
sought for an accumulation of evidential 
facts, but rather for something dignified 
from the inhabitants of that world. Wheth- 
er or not such facts have been given me 
these pages will answer. 



100 



CHAPTEK XVIII. 

SPIRIT-SUGGESTION. 

HAVE spirit-people any influence 
on our daily thought and action? 
If so, to what extent and by what 
process? 

To bring ourselves intelligently to the 
question, we must appreciate, as we have 
never done before, that those out of the phy- 
sical body are people, — as they were before 
dissolution ; that their bodies are composed 
of matter differing from ours only in vibra- 
tion; that they live and inhabit what we 
know as space; move over and walk upon 
the city's busy streets; go into and out of 
homes, as freely as before; and are silent 
witnesses of our daily thought and action. 
They travel at will, along the old highways, 
stay about the homes they loved and built 
with infinite care and ceaseless toil; see us 
and know our daily wants, desires and am- 
bitions; and are acquainted with the dis- 

191 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

cords, as well as tlie harmonies, of our lives. 
By law many become co-workers in our 
struggle for development. I know the lim- 
itations of the human mind and its inabil- 
ity to grasp this simple proposition, more 
important than the accumulation of wealth, 
and wish for many tongues that I might 
speak in all nature's dialects and languages, 
and bring this simple fact home to all the 
men and women who inhabit this globe, for 
it would revolutionize the conduct of man- 
kind and enrich the world. 

There are some truths that cannot be told 
too often; there are truths that, no matter 
how often told, seem to make no impres- 
sion; there are some soils which no matter 
how perfect the seed or how thickly sown, 
give little return; and so, in many ways, 
we tell over and over again what follows 
dissolution, finding now and then a fertile 
brain. 

All knowledge is the result of suggestion, 
which may be divided into three classes — 
physical, mental and spiritual, (a) Phy- 
sical; that which is objective. Everything 
we see or hear in nature makes its impres- 
sion on our minds. Something is by that 

192 



SPIRIT SUGGESTION. 

process suggested to our senses, and, to the 
extent that we grasp and understand, we 
make it our own and thereby the sum-total 
of our knowledge is increased. One in 
spirit-life, who has given many lectures, 
said on this subject: 

"Come with me through the walks of life, 
and see the manner of men we can help. It 
is not the arrogant fool who says in his 
heart: 'My way is the only way/ nor yet 
the man who weakly fears to trust his own 
instinct and vacillates falteringly between 
the opinions of man; but it is the sane, 
quiet thinker, who is willing to listen to all 
arguments and to choose wisely those that 
appeal alike to his heart and brain. Such 
we can assist by spirit-suggestion. Without 
his being conscious of it, we can often guide 
his thought along right lines, because he is 
fair minded. 

"Suggestion is one of the strong factors 
in the life-force. As you said this morning, 
all things have their power of suggestion. 
Does not a low saloon throw out its vile 
suggestion to all men? Whether this em- 
anation entices or repels, depends upon the 
man, but its surounding influence is felt 

193 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

strongly, and the suggestion is evil. A 
beautiful rural scene is helpful with its sug- 
gestion of peace and harmonious coloring. 
And so it is through all phases of life. 
Hence all should seek the best, and, uncon- 
sciously all do aspire to it." 

(b) Mental; that is, by deduc- 
tion or reasoning from one known 
cause to its effect, something more is sug- 
gested. By this method we prove facts pre- 
viously unknown. An illustration of de- 
ductive reasoning is found by accepting 
what is known as a fact that "nothing in 
nature can be destroyed." From this 
proved hypothesis, we find that our mind, 
or soul, is a part of nature just as much 
as the earth itself, and more important. 
The Master-mind that created all things has 
not planned the annihilation of its higher 
forms, and preserved the lower. That 
would be at least an injustice. Man has 
proved that it is impossible to destroy an 
atom. We prove by the process of deduc- 
tive reasoning, which is really the highest 
form of demonstration, that a human soul 
cannot be annihilated ; and, having reached 
that stage of mental development, it is only 

194 



SPIRIT SUGGESTION. 

a step to prove, by laws as certain as those 
pertaining to the physical, that the spirit 
of man, as a fact, is not destroyed. This 
we know because, with many others un- 
derstanding the elementary laws of vibra- 
tion, we have talked with them. The induc- 
tive method will help to confirm the con- 
clusions of the deductive on the subject, for 
if the spirit of man be indestructible, why 
should it be impossible for earth-dwellers 
to communicate with those who have left 
the earth? Franklin was able to demon- 
strate the two methods; inductively he 
showed that lightning and electricity are 
identical, and, deductively, that houses 
may be protected by lightning rods. If 
spirit be seen by induction to be identical 
with mind, deduction will enable us to con- 
clude that spirits, still in the flesh, can 
have direct relations with spirits out of the 
flesh. 

(c) Spiritual; with spirit-people, 
thought is such a positive force, and takes 
such definite form and shape, that it is 
visible. Their language is a thought lan- 
guage and is as well understood among 
them as words among us. They soon lose 

195 



THE FUTURE OF MAK 

all desire for physical touch or expression^ 
finding the purely mental so much more in- 
tense; and, as they move in and out among: 
the people of earth and see when and where 
they can do good, they, by a purely mental 
process, often suggest to us what to do or 
what not to do. Thus the suggestion of 
those who have passed out of earth-life 
comes to us as a moral guide, whose true 
origin many ignore because so many have 
absolutely no knowledge of what happens 
after dissolution. This form of suggestion 
we call intuition, impulse, inspiration. 

Spirit-suggestion comes through our sub- 
conscious mind. Mind, whether in or be- 
yond the physical, is a positive force in na- 
ture, more in fact than action, which is the 
result of mind; and spirit-people, desiring 
to influence our conduct to some desired 
end, retard their mental vibrations, 
and, at the same time ours in- 
crease until our vibrations and theirs 
pulsate more or less in harmony; 
then it is possible for them to make their 
thought our thought, and when we, guided 
by their suggestion, do some good deed with 
their co-operation, we increase in some de- 

196 



SPIRIT SUGGESTION". 

gree the sum of Universal Good. r>ut, be- 
cause those berond the physical are not al- 
ways spiritual, some being on the contrary, 
of a low order of mentality, often depraved, 
as when in the body, with low instincts and 
base appetites, they, if our thoughts and 
desires are of a similar character, can reach 
our subconscious mind, and suggest that 
which will satisfy their desires and the re- 
sults are base actions produced by both 
factors. Man is not a mere automaton, but a 
personality, deriving his progression from 
suggestions of people both in and out of the 
body; and it is difficult, so subtle is spirit 
suggestion, to tell with any certainty wheth- 
er the thought that preceded the act was our 
own conception or that of some spirit work- 
ing through our brain to do good or to sat- 
isfy his own selfish desires. For this reason 
one should weigh well what he has an im- 
pulse or desire to do. Good always precedes 
evil. First impressions are better than 
those which follow, because they are more 
spiritual. 

The whole process of thought is the re- 
sult of suggestion, without which ideas 
could neither be formulated nor expressed. 

197 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

Knowledge would be unknown and evolu- 
tion impossible, were it not for suggestion. 
The influence of the spirit-world is far 
greater than any mortal can comprehend 
because we are unable, so faint is the line 
of demarcation, to tell the origin, or source, 
of any thought. 

In formulating this philosophy, I am un- 
able to say to what extent intelligences be- 
yond the physical have influenced my mind. 
My brain may have been, so to speak, a 
conduit of thought, and my hand an instru- 
ment to give physical expression to natural 
laws not generally understood by man. I 
cannot tell; I have not been conscious of 
any suggestions; but, knowing, from my 
conversation with spirit-people, the subtle 
power of suggestion, I would not say that 
they have not had a very great influence in 
shaping this work. I have the greatest re- 
spect and love for many who have, voice 
to voice, proved their identity, and given 
me their knowledge. What they have 
taught I know; to just what ex- 
tent they can influence our daily conduct 
and thought depends on their mental condi- 
tions and ours. It is, therefore, largely an 

198 



SPIRIT SUGGESTION. 

unknown influence, but an important fact, 
which man should understand. 

The life of spirits is intensely active and 
real ; they have their work along those lines 
for which their experience in earth-life has 
best fitted them; they labor where there is 
the greatest need, where most good can be 
done. The ignorance of those in the physi- 
cal world on this subject is very great and, 
as a result, their condition is so inferior to 
what it might be, that spirit-people, real- 
izing the deplorable situation, spend much 
time in the earth-plane striving to enlighten 
mankind and to make them live better in- 
dividual lives, a task which increases their 
labors and impedes their own progress. 

I recall listening, not many years ago, to 
a boy not more than fourteen years old, 
playing the great masterpieces on a violin 
with marvelous technical skill. His intel- 
lect was not above the average, nor had he 
received any special artistic training, yet 
he could execute the most difficult music. 
One of our standard law-books, recognized 
as an authority, was written by a boy while 
at college. Fiske wrote philosophy in 
his teens. We have always had prodigies 

199 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

who were able, without much education, to 
accomplish great things; but there is noth- 
ing remarkable in this, after all; it means 
only that a master in spirit is able either 
to suggest and to work through their sub- 
conscious brains, or, in some instances, like 
the boy violinist and Blind Tom, to take 
actual possession of the body and brain, 
which, for the time being, is used as an in- 
strument by a master-mind to give physical 
expression to his attainments. 

What is true of the boy, is true likewise 
of the man. It is difficult, so great is the 
power of spirit-minds, so fine is the line of 
demarcation between self and their sug- 
gestion, to tell, at all times, what is self 
and what is suggestion. This mind of ours 
is like a stream having its source among 
the hills and flowing toward the sea. A 
thought to the right finds its way to the 
channel; another one comes from the left, 
and joins the current, adding volume and 
character; and when the stream reaches 
the sea of expression, it is hard to say how 
much of it came from the original source, 
how much is our own, or how much flowed 
in from surrounding conditions. 

200 ■ 



SPIRIT SUGGESTION. 

We hear a voice calling our name; we 
turn and listen; it suggests that some one 
would speak to us. We hesitate while the 
thought finds lodgement in the brain; and 
it, too, sets in action a line of conduct. 
That thought may have been generated by a 
process of reasoning, and, again, it may 
have been the suggestion of some spirit in- 
terested in our welfare. Spirits can call as 
well as those in the physical body; both 
can be heard, the first by the mind itself, 
and the last by the physical sense of hear- 
ing. And it is difficult for anyone to say, 
such is the feasibility and possibility of 
spirit-suggestion, whether one originates or 
obeys. Inspiration is spirit-aid and sug- 
gestion, nothing more. 



201 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE WORLD'S DESIRE. 

THIS is an age of greed. We, as 
a people, have drifted out upon the 
sea of selfishness, egotistic desire 
and devouring ambition, and set the many 
sails to woo the winds of fortune. This is 
an age of money. Every nation and every 
people have erected a throne on which 
wealth sits in state; they have placed upon 
its brow a crown of gold, and have decreed 
that the possession of money, with little 
regard to the manner of acquisition, should 
be the only qualification for this kingship 
of modern times. 

Man, at the dawn of physical develop- 
ment, is shown this goal, and taught that 
money is power and the world's desire. He 
enters the strife and bends his energies, as 
others do, to grasp the greatest amount of 
wealth with the least possible effort, match- 
ing his cunning against labor, — mind 

203 



THE FUTURE OF MAN". 

against muscle, — artifice against simplic- 
ity, — and directs his thoughts towards 
wrenching from the hands of honest toil a 
portion of its legitimate earnings. 

Does wealth ever ask what claim it has 
on the savings of labor? Why is it add- 
ing to its already vast store, while other 
hands are growing feeble from want, and 
shadows are falling on poverty stricken 
homes? Does capital ever contemplate the 
privation and suffering that must follow 
close upon the heels of cupidity and decep- 
tion? Do captains of industry realize that, 
by directing their ability towards the con- 
cealment of base designs under the veil of 
enterprise, and by the misappropriation of 
the proceeds of honest toil, they are, accord- 
ing to a higher standard of ethics, guilty of 
larceny; and that by a law, as fixed as 
gravitation, the time will come when they, 
through laboring and suffering, in the life 
beyond the physical, must make compensa- 
tion for every dollar acquired unjustly? 

Consider what a future awaits those who 
make ambition their goal, and who succeed 
in seating themselves upon the throne of 
wealth by modern methods! It is a great 

204 



THE WORLD'S DESIRE. 

misfortune to have false ideals, to worship 
at the shrine of money; but it is a far 
greater misfortune to succeed, and to hold 
unlawful gains, or more of nature's store 
than a simple life requires. That all should 
work and save against old age is proper; 
but that accumulations should greatly ex- 
ceed the needs of existence, was not intend- 
ed by the intelligence that planned all 
things. We see men in the morning of life 
preparing for the strife: so fast they rush, 
so eager is the struggle, so crowded the 
field, so elusive the object of pursuit, that 
each one thinks only of self. Like men in 
actual battle, they fight for mastery, never 
hesitating to push aside those in front or 
to trample on those under them; and what 
is the end for which they strive? Wealth? 
Yes, but not all, for with the advantages 
that money brings, come arrogance, pride, 
greed, and increased selfishness. 

Of what real benefit to the world are the 
very rich? Some few do good by gifts that 
help the poor and needy; some endow hos- 
pitals where suffering is reduced; some 
give libraries; others build churches and 
cathedrals. But the great majority hoard 

205 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

their gains and count their money ; the love 
that should encompass all mankind is given 
to wealth. The greater portion of their 
thought has been spent in accumulating 
their hoard, and consequently they love it. 
This is the old age they have been preparing 
for, and, like the miser in his tower, they 
sing and chuckle as they count their gains 
and the gold coins slip through their fin- 
gers. So intent are they on accumulation 
that they are deaf to the call of charity. 
Surrounded by luxury, they have not come 
into contact with suffering ; so busy and self- 
centered are they, that they have not had 
time to give words of encouragement to 
others. Nothing but self has found lodge- 
ment in their minds as they have been pre- 
paring for the future. What future? "Old 
age," one answers; but I answer: The fu- 
ture lies beyond the world of men! Will 
this gathered wealth support you through 
the coming ages? If another life follows 
dissolution; if natural conditions prevail, 
in the great beyond, and one has necessities 
there as here, what wealth has been accum- 
ulated for support in the community after 
this? Money being a material substance, is 

206 



THE WORLD'S DESIHE. 

not taken, nor indeed can it be, for we see 
its distribution here. What, then, has been 
accumulated for support and maintenance 
out in the after-life where money is not 
king? All the wealth one can take with 
him into the after-life, is that which he 
gave away in this. 

The thought that the rich man here may 
be, and usually is, the pauper in tlie after- 
life, is startling in its possibilities and 
dreadful to contemplate. A man who has 
made money his God and worshipped at the 
shrine of gold, having no other thought, am- 
bition or desire, in earth-life, is poor in- 
deed if his hoard cannot be taken with him, 
for poor he is in all else, in a world where 
kind and thoughtful acts and deeds are the 
standard of wealth. 

When the fact can be driven deep into the 
human heart and brain that after the ma- 
terial life, out in the great hereafter, one 
lives a life similar to this, and that he has 
necessities, actual wants, and desires that 
money will not satisfy; appreciation of what 
true wealth is, and how to gather it for 
one's eternal good, may dawn upon the 
minds of men. 

207 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

Contemplate the after-life, where money 
is not used! The occupation of most peo- 
ple will be gone, they will find themselves 
disqualified for any other position, ignor- 
ant and helpless in a world of activity ; then 
will come appreciation of the lost Atlantis 
men call opportunity. Upon the pages of 
memory will be written : wasted energy, 
false ideals, worthless ambitions, erroneous 
conceptions, ignorance of the simple laws 
of nature, — and selfishness will find itself 
a pauper, in a world of plenty. 

In the next life, I am told, the only way 
to gain advancement is by helping others; 
in this way only is knowledge gained, for 
by contributing their efforts to greater good 
the Master Intelligence has provided for the 
individual advancement of spirit-people. 
Each builds his own stairway to the heights 
of knowledge, — "all for one and one for 
all," — that is the law of their progress when 
they have emancipated themselves from 
earth conditions. Material wealth is only 
for a day, as time is counted. What the 
good man does enriches him here, and be- 
comes a part of his oivn self for all that 
we call eternity. 

208 



THE WORLD'S DESIRE. 

If "doing good" is the only wealth that 
one can carry away into the after-life, how 
shall it be with those who have thought only 
of money, grown indifferent, cold and hard, 
and have lived this life for self alone? A 
picture of the condition of those in that 
class, whom we have talked with in the life 
beyond, is too terrible to describe. In 
earth-life they draw about themselves a 
mantle of arrogance and pride, closely 
woven of selfish thoughts and greed. Such 
is the garment that covers these naked souls 
as they journey on. Upon many not one 
ray of light shines; there is only darkness 
and despair; nothing penetrates the gloom 
but the chill of death and dissolution. The 
selfish worshipper of wealth is not only a 
pauper in a world of wealth, but an outcast 
in a community of harmony. The good men 
do "lives after them," the earth career be- 
comes a part of them, and they a part of it. 
Good radiates light; selfishness is dark- 
ness — the absence of light — and so con- 
denses the thought emanations as to encom- 
pass and obstruct one's vision. And so, on 
going out into the next life, the selfish enter 
into the condition they have created, there 

209 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

to remain, until, through suffering, the wish 
shall come, from within, to make restitution 
for a life of greed. Then will come the de- 
sire, unknown during earthly existence, to 
become a worker to help others — just for 
the joy that comes of doing good — and to 
find in this way only that "peace which 
passeth all understanding." 

The wealth that all in this physical world 
should seek has not the ring of gold; it is 
gathered by right living, by helping- 
others to live right, and by doing something 
each day that will bring joy to hearts that 
are sad, encouragement to those who falter, 
good cheer to those who are depressed, bread 
to those who hunger and clothing to the 
naked. Do something each day to make 
some mortal happier, and with each act let 
love go hand in hand. Thus only can mor- 
tals be enriched here and hereafter, "beyond 
the dreams of avarice," for one good act, 
sent out with love as its companion, will 
reach beyond the confines of the stars, and 
touch eternity. 



210 



CHAPTER XX. 

HOMES IN THE AFTER LIFE. 

ONE in the after-life gave me a 
description of the spirit home of 
a great, splendid mother, bnilded 
by the labor of love and ceaseless charity, — 
in the physical as well as in the spirit plane 
in which she now resides, — one who worked 
long and earnestly to make women under- 
stand the truth so that they might live near- 
er to the best in nature. Here is the descrip- 
tion as it was given me : 

"Before me is the interior of a splendid 
home, the home made by a spirit, created 
and builded by the thoughts, acts and 
works of one who, thirty-two years ago, 
lived on the material plane. The room 
opening before me seems like pure white 
marble with lofty ceilings ; around the four 
sides runs a broad balcony supported by 
columns gracefully turned; from a point 

beyond the center is a broad stairway curv- 
211 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

ing outward; at its foot, on each side, are 
niches filled with beautiful statuary. Go- 
ing up the stairs now, I find each step a 
different color, yet all blending into one; 
on all sides of this upper gallery are win- 
dows through which come soft rays of light. 
Opening off the sides are rooms; and, as I 
look, a door opens and a beautiful spirit 
comes out, taking on, as she enters, the old 
material condition that she may be recog- 
nized. She has reached maturity in years, 
and has a face of rare gentleness — the 
beauty of purity, — she smiles as we describe 
her and her home to you. With her is a 
daughter just reaching womanhood; one 
that never lived the earth-life but was pre- 
maturely born. These two, drawn by the in- 
visible bond of affection, have builded this 
home and made it rich with love. 

"Passing down the corridor uoav, the 
mother's arm about the daughter, they ap- 
proach the other end of the building and 
descend a stairway similar to the first, and 
go out upon a broad terrace, along walks 
bordered with flowers, into the garden of 
happiness. Turning now and looking to- 
ward a valley, I see many trees heavy with 

212 



HOMES IN THE AFTERLIFE. 

foliage, and through them I behold the 
waters of a lake, rich as an emerald in 
color. 

About the vaulted room which I have de- 
scribed are many others of like material, 
filled with all that this mother loves. Books 
that she uses in her work are seen ; pictures, 
created by acts of tenderness, adorn the 
walls. Musical instruments unlike those of 
earth await spirit-toueh. This is a home 
where girls, just budding into womanhood, 
are taught purity — this is a mother's home, 
and suggests to you the possibility of spir- 
itual surroundings. It was not builded in 
a day, but is the result of labor in the earth 
and in spheres of progression, where the 
surroundings are in harmony Avith spirit- 
ual development : the home of a good wo- 
man, builded by helping others." 

I said to one of my friends in the after- 
life, at another time : "Tell me of the homes 
of spirit people," and, in reply, he said : 

"That is a most difficult thing to do, be- 
cause earth-people expect to find everything 
so different, while, in reality, the homes here 
are practically the same as in earth-life, 
except that there is in the advanced spheres 

213 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

no discord, no lack of harmony, nothing but 
light, beauty, music, laughter, blended with 
earnest, thoughtful study. I am describing 
the home of a spirit who has grown to know 
the life-principle. There are many poor, 
struggling souls wilfully, or ignorantly, 
looking down instead of upward into the 
great possibility of the future, who are liv- 
ing in squalid huts which their deeds and 
thoughts in earth-life have made for them. 
Very few have beautiful homes ready for 
them when they enter spirit-life, for most 
people live in such ignorance of natural 
laws that they find insufficient shelter await- 
ing them, but the wise ones start to build 
by perfecting their way of thinking 
and by undoing wrongs on earth, 
and also, by helping others. No 
actual physical touch is given these homes, 
but, as the soul grows in beauty of thought 
and deed, the home grows to perfection/ ' 

"Are these homes as real to you as ours 
are to us?" I asked. "They are the abiding 
places of spirits who gather into them the 
objects of beauty they love, and there har- 
monious spirits come and go, as in earth- 
life. They are as real to them as yours are 

214 



HOMES m THE AFTER LIFE. 

to you. But we look at things differently; 
we think them and the thought is expressed 
in waves that are visible and real as long- 
as we hold the thought." 

This is no flight of imagination. Let me 
bring home the truth by an illustration. 
Yesterday I purchased a country-place, 
which must be modernized and adapted to 
our requirements. I have been thinking 
what changes are possible and what I should 
like. It was a mental effort to take into 
consideration the situation and work out a 
plan. It was all done in thought. I can, 
by a mental process, see the change ap- 
proach ; the graded laAvns, the enlarged ver- 
anda, the great fire-place and the towering 
chimneys. In thought-vibrations these 
changes have already been made. They 
exist in mind which is matter, and all that 
remains is to have the mental plans put 
upon paper and sent to the builder, who 
will give them physical expression, con- 
struct in gross matter what now exists in 
refined matter. These changes are now 
thought creations; they exist in fact; I 
can see them. 

So it is in the after-life. The home and 

213 



THE FUTURE OF MAN". 

environment are made by thought, created 
in spirit-matter, which is mind, and its 
beauty and grandeur is only limited by the 
purity and progression of our earth life. 
Those in the other life have their limita- 
tions, as we have; they must have knowl- 
edge and development and comprehension 
just as we do. We differ in our creations 
only in the manner of expression. The one 
must be suitable to physical; the other to 
spirit-requirements; both are first mental 
processes; one is expressed in gross mat- 
ter, while the other consists of spirit-matter 
and spirit expression. 

The next life, in its inception, is the sum- 
total of this life, and nothing more. And 
the structure fashioned by our acts and 
deeds here, is that which we must inhabit 
when we enter the spirit-world. 

The idea that all space is peopled and 
that in the universe there are no waste 
places, is not only startling but it must ap- 
peal to our reason that the Master Mind, in 
creating, so planned that all space should 
be of use and occupied, for some purpose. 
The thought world does not need the land 
nor the waters, nor the physical at- 

216 



HOMES IN THE AFTERLIFE. 

mosphere, to subsist; passing beyond 
material laws, who shall say they 
cannot live and move in the invisi- 
ble sphere about us — and surround them- 
selves with thought creations? They live 
beyond and outside the physical bodies, be- 
yond our vision, yet with us. While their 
presence is felt by the many, it is known by 
the few. This is the great misfortune of 
this so-called civilized world. 



Si? 



CHAPTER XXI. 

TRUE CHARITY. 

CHARITY, in its general accepta- 
tion, has been identified with alms- 
giving; but why should a word so 
potent, so beautif al, be so degraded? Spirit- 
people, with their higher intelligence, have 
told me that charity means giving to those 
in need our best and purest thought; and 
they have pointed out that on the earth - 
plane it is rather a mechanical than a spir- 
itual action to distribute material things 
amongst others. How many, when they 
help those in need, give their best thought 
as well as material aid? True, material 
assistance is often indispensable; but, nev- 
ertheless, it should be only a stepping-stone 
to something higher and nobler. A charit- 
able thought, sent out and transmitted by 
waves of psychic ether, will reach many 
souls in despair, and, perhaps, lift them to 
higher conditions in the material as well as 

219 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

in the spirit spheres. There are persons in 
earth life who are too poor to give material 
aid, but who, out of the richness of their 
benevolent hearts, give that which is bet- 
ter, more precious, more Godlike: loving 
words and kindly deeds. Such as these are 
never too tired to offer sympathy to those 
in need; never too weary to speak a cheery 
word to struggling neighbors. Such per- 
sons radiate happiness around them, and 
are continually sending forth the purest and 
best of which a soul is capable, and, when 
they go out into the after-life, they find that 
bread cast upon the waters does return. 

It is my custom to ask of spirit-people to 
give some expression of their views on sub- 
jects under consideration, and in reply to 
an inquiry about charity, one said : 

"And the greatest of all is charity of 
thought, without which the utmost gifts of 
money become as pebbles in the mouths of 
the hungry. Think of all as you would have 
all think of you. A thought once born 
grows to its fulness, not only by the good 
done to the individual, but, by its strength 
and goodness, it circles around, and after 
encompassing many in its kind embrace, re- 

220 



TRUE CHARITY. 

bounds to enrich the originator. Cultivate 
the desire to think kindly of your fellow- 
men. 

Since thought dominates all actions, 
those who have evil thoughts are in danger 
of becoming evil themselves, though they 
may be unconscious of the fact. The mind 
flings out a radiance which, to some extent, 
sheds light on every avenue of life; if that 
radiance should grow feeble and your life 
selfish, you will ever remain in the twilight, 
and your outlook will always be limited; 
but if kindness and true charity dominate 
your thoughts, the radiance will continue 
rich and bright till its emanations reach the 
boundaries of hope and your soul is illum- 
ined by the crowning sun of happiness." 

"The best way to judge character is to 
watch the faces of children who turn toward 
men. A good man loves them and has pa- 
tience with them, and they turn to him as 
naturally as a flower follows the warmth 
of the sun. A bad man realizes their help- 
lessness, and brutally vents his malignity on 
their small, defenceless heads. Such a man 
is not to be trusted in any walk of life. 

221 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

Right rears its head majestically 

And scorns disgrace; 
Wrong seeks to hide, and turns away 

To shield its face. 

"Again, be generous to those to whom na- 
ture has limited her gifts, for nature com- 
pensates, and the time will come when all 
shall be equal. The poorly equipped for 
earth-life, will more easily acquire the les- 
sons to be learned in the next, for those of 
patience and humility are learned already. 
Those who think differently are to be en- 
lightened, not censured or ridiculed, for all 
who understand this truth of life's progres- 
sion are entrusted with the great responsi- 
bility of teaching all who can understand; 
and you must get as close as possible to the 
lives of others, that your words may have 
weight. 

"Let your hearts be fallow ground ; plant 
therein the seeds of love, charity and purity ; 
nourish them daily with the clear water of 
tenderness, and you will have a wonderful 
garden filled with fragrance and white with 
blossoms, and your life will become a part 
of the great life principle." 

A minister, well known when in earth- 
life, said one evening to a gentleman who 



TRUE CHARITY. 

worked with me and helped gather the in- 
formation now given the public: 

"The intense satisfaction that is the con- 
stant result of right doing, based on honest 
purpose, is, in itself, sufficient reward for 
action. Of all the trite sayings of the Bible, 
the one that reads, 'What shall it profit a 
man, if he shall gain the whole world, and 
yet lose his own soul?' is one with the great- 
est meaning. 

"Wealth brings many opportunities for 
good and for evil ; in fact, more for the lat- 
ter than the former, as the besetting sin of 
mortal man is selfishness, and the posses- 
sion of great richness allows of a free ex- 
pression of that greatest of all causes of 
trouble. The true and full meaning of the 
word 'selfishness' is in every way opposite 
to the most beautiful word in your language 
'charity.' Shorn of their meaning, as ap- 
plied to money, they are the negative and 
positive of man's character. The fullest 
opportunity of giving expression to these 
two opposite words comes with the posses- 
sion of great wealth. The understanding of 
the full meaning of these tAvo words is the 
truest index of a man's character. The 

223 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

ability to make one's life the embodiment of 
that wonderful word 'charity,' and to un- 
derstand that other word 'selfishness' so as 
to avoid it, is the true test of mortal man's 
ability to control himself. 

"Self-control is man's perfect condition. 
To know charity and practice its meaning; 
to know selfishness and keep it from you: 
this is self-control. This state of existence 
is as near perfection as the earth-tied mor- 
tal can hope to get. You have been chosen, 
one among many on your side of life, to 
bring certain great truths to the people of 
the world. In advance of the time, you are 
to be prepared for the time of your useful- 
ness, and this is one of the moments of lay- 
ing before you certain truths. To teach the 
truth, the teacher must be truthful; to in- 
duce others to accept pure and honest prin- 
ciples, the teacher must be pure and honest 
himself; to set certain facts before others, 
the teacher must be above criticism. 

"You may honestly atone for those things 
that have so far occurred in your life, by 
making amends to those to whom you are 
indebted. So far as the errors of your past 
life are concerned, you have well and strong- 

224 



TRUE CHARITY. 

ly conquered their chief cause, and you need 
no longer fear them. You have henceforth 
no excuse to do otherwise than to follow 
the honorable and ennobling instincts of 
your nature. Guard well your actions, that 
they may not be open to criticism from 
others; and particularly from the one of 
all others from whom you cannot escape,— 
your own self. You have been, and you are 
being weighed in the balance ; and so much 
is expected of you, that you must not be 
found wanting. 

"Kemember that wealth brings the oppor- 
tunity to give expression to what is best in 
your nature, and that you will find the only 
reward for doing good is that intense feel- 
ing of satisfaction that can come only as the 
result of a good deed, unselfishly done. It 
is well that man should earn his daily bread. 
It is the intention of nature that every mor- 
tal should struggle, for by no other means 
can he progress in the scale of being. This 
being so, one so situated that he can live 
without a proper exertion on his part, is un- 
fortunate. Never forget this principle : the 
waste of money is not charity, but foolish- 
ness. You will find many practical ways 

225 



THE FUTURE OF MAX. 

to do good and to do it in the right way. 
A clean tenant demands a clean habitation, 
A pure heart and a pure mind are the re- 
sults of your own efforts so to keep them. 

"Charity is not a formula; it is thought 
clothed with a kind act. Cultivate charity 
in judging others; try to draw out the 
latent good in them, rather than to discover 
the hidden evil. We must do this, if we 
would rise to the full glory of our privilege, 
to the dignity of true living, to the supreme 
charity of the world." 



226 



CHAPTER XXII. 

"TO THAT MORTAL WOULD I SPEAK." 

THE gentleman who opened the dis- 
cussion on the "Attitude of Science" 
was himself, while in earth-life, a 
great thinker, and has evidently made much 
progress as a chemist in the sphere where he 
now lives. He is fearless in speech, and has 
courage born of knowledge. It is a priv- 
ilege that I prize greatly to discuss phil- 
osophy with him, and many of his dis- 
courses have found place in this work. 
After speaking on the subject above men- 
tioned, I asked permission to use what he 
had said. With his consent, I give, in his 
answer, perhaps the most remarkable mes- 
sage that ever came from the spirit- world : 
"In so far as you are impressed with the 
thought that my simple words will enable 
you to give to the people of earth a clear 
and honest statement of the facts with ref- 
erence to the change from one sphere to an- 

227 



THE FUTURE OP MAN. 

other sphere of usefulness, everything which 
is in perfect accord with, and which carries 
out the intent of that whole, which it so per- 
fectly controls, you are welcome to use. If 
anything that I have said, or may say, can, 
in any degree, hring to the people of earth 
an appreciation of the future that awaits 
them, I am deeply grateful." 

'One, older in spirit-life, and far — oh so 
very far beyond me, bids me say:' 

"Upward and onward! Always lead the 
way, for climb ye must, whether ye would 
or nay! That omnipotent force that has 
fixed the destiny of all things, has so willed, 
and, struggle though ye do and will, to fol- 
low your self-impulse, and journey to and 
fro, yet shall your course lay onward and 
upward. In all that has been, in all there 
is, and in all you shall know as you jour- 
ney on, that one intent is the manifest pur- 
pose. The one supreme intent ye of earth- 
life shall not and cannot know, and that is 
wise and just. But this ye may know, for 
your very peace and comfort : every change 
that shall overtake you, is but to prepare 
you for the next ; and further knowledge is 
but a dream of your OAvn fancy, that springs 

228 - 



TO THAT MORTAL WOULD I SPEAK. 

from the speculative intensity of your de- 
sire to know. 

"Knowing all, would ye not be that All? 
And knowing all, yet not having the wisdom 
to make use of that knowledge, what blun- 
dering fools would ye be ! Only as ye shall 
have wisdom to exercise just and proper 
care of such things as be, shall ye know the 
meaning of those things. The servant must 
ever be able to do intelligently the master's 
bidding, that he may be worthy of trust; 
and if he faileth, then must the master bid 
him begone, and another shall enter into 
his stewardship until he who hath failed 
shall be worthy, once more, of his master's 
trust; and, should he fail scores of times 
without number, yet shall he be set aside 
until he hath become his own master; and 
then only may he be a worthy servant to 
his master. And so I say unto you, that 
ye may learn concerning the future, that 
shall help you in the time that is; but be- 
yond the simple knowledge of the fact that 
ye shall have answered unto you the great 
question of Job — asked by every son of wo- 
man from all time — 'Though I die, shall I 
yet live again?' I answer unto you, saying 

229 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

to all in earth-life, Yea! You shall! Let 
that, then, suffice for I say once more to all 
men, through you, that no mortal can ob- 
tain knowledge of what lies beyond save 
through the sphere above that wherein he 
dwells, for all must pass from earth before 
reaching the spirit-sphere ; those in the earth 
plane must receive all knowledge of the 
after life from those who have progressed 
into spirit-life. 

"Upward and onward ye must go; and 
only by such a ladder, as ye shall have built, 
can ye mount. So it is well that ye build 
wisely and with care. Let the rungs be of 
good deeds, and ye shall mount quickly and 
joyously to great and splendid heights ; but 
if ye are careless and slothful in the build- 
ing, and heed not nature's laws, — and they 
are writ that all may read, — your advance- 
ment will be delayed by your failure, for 
each rotten rung must be replaced; and O 
ye of earth! If ye could but know the 
weariness of such undoing and redoing, 
more heed would ye give as ye rush onward 
through life. 

"And so I say to you this : to know that 
ye live again, though ye die, is all ye need 

230 



TO THAT MORTAL WOULD I SPEAK. 

to know to fit you for the future ; and if ye 
knew too much of that future state that ye 
shall enter into, it would unfit you for that 
state in which ye now live. Take ye no heed 
of the morrow, but see that ye so live, each 
day, that the morrow may find you pre- 
pared. True honesty, like charity, begins 
in one's own heart. It is far better to have 
committed an honest error and reaped no 
profit, than to have great profit and to have 
honesty gone from your own heart. 

"This spirit gives me no name. He says 
it has been lost so long from his memory 
that he scarce heeded its going. As you re- 
spect a worthy man of much learning and 
honesty of heart, without regard to his 
name, so I reverence this other spirit; and 
I am indebted to you for the privilege of 
knowing him, as he came to me saying : To 
that mortal would I speak.' " 



231 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

TRUTH AT LAST. 

THERE is not in the universe a 
single great problem that man can 
truthfully say he has mastered, and 
concerning which nothing remains to be 
found out. The laws that control this 
world and are before all energy and chem- 
ical action, are universal and in force in 
other spheres as well as this; they control 
all solar systems and worlds in space, there- 
fore, a complete comprehension of those 
laws and their application requires more 
than mortal life. If this were not so, per- 
fection would be practically immediate, and 
without process, and men would become 
gods here and now. The most brilliant men 
that have ever lived, knew but little of nat- 
ural laws and of the origin and destiny of 
man; and until now have made but little 
effort to find them out. 

The earth is yet so crude, our senses are 

233 



THE FUTURE OF MAN. 

so dull and our vision so limited, that we 
fail to realize those emanations and move- 
ments of refined matter about us, or the 
subtle and incessant play of forces around 
us. From a single ray of light shoot mil- 
lions of electrons and corpuscles, the basic 
constituents of matter, smaller than the 
atom of hydrogen, striking blow upon blow, 
passing by and through us in their incessant 
warfare with the night, but we feel them 
not. 

We do not realize the quivering and bend- 
ing of the earth's crust under our feet, 
caused by changes of temperature and the 
pressure of atmospheric waves, nor do we 
hear the fermentations and oxidations of 
the soil in the changing seasons. We do not 
even yet know the exact nature of that ether 
which a recent investigator considers omni- 
present and omnipotent. We see the action 
of gravitation, but know nothing of the me- 
dium through which it operates. We hear 
the wind soughing among the trees ; but we 
do not hear the roar of sap up trunk and 
branch, the bursting of the buds as they 
bombard the air, or the speech of growing 
trees and flowers and grass among them- 

234 



TRUTH AT LAST. 

selves; yet life, wherever found, has lan- 
guage. 

The vibrations from out the abyss of 
space would reach our ears if they had more 
and higher octaves, or if our capacity for 
catching sound were immeasurably intensi- 
fied ; we do not hear the clang of the planets 
as they ring down through their orbits, the 
explosive detonations of the sun, the wild 
dance and chant of the nebulae, the comets' 
note of warning, or the rush of wandering 
matter of which worlds are made, which 
must send out impulses and tremblings 
through the ether to this planet of ours. We 
are at all times in a great sea of intensely 
active forces and potentialities governed by 
a law of which we have little conception. 

About us, but invisible to most, a nation, 
or rather many nations, of spirit-people, 
"live and move and have their being, " more 
industrious, more active, more intellectual, 
and more energetic, then we; but, such is 
their intense vibration, we do not or- 
dinarily feel their touch, hear their voices, 
or see their forms; but conditions can be 
made, and have been made, so that, notwith- 
standing our limitations, we may have 

235 



THE FUTURE OF MAN 

speech with them, and know at least some- 
thing of how and where they live, and what 
they are doing. 

There is so mnch in nature that we do not 
understand, is it any wonder that, having 
kept our eyes so close to the ground, we have 
not discovered this spirit world before? We 
have made conditions where it became pos- 
sible for us to know a little of those other 
people, and, even though many have not had 
this evidence, that does not derogate from 
the truth of the discovery, which must for- 
ever stand as another fact added to the sum 
total of human knowledge. The possibility 
of communication between mortals and 
those in the world of spirits, has been 
proved beyond doubt; and it now remains 
for men of genius to adopt new rules of 
demonstration, and to bring into this new 
field of research, the same intelligent action 
that is applied to the lower sciences and to 
increase our knowledge of the spirit as they 
have of the material world. 

Those who, through ignorance or preju- 
dice, decry a new discovery, and so prevent 
fair consideration, are enemies of civiliza- 
tion. The time has come for man to be free 

236 



TRUTH AT LAST. 

and to think alone. Neither the teachings 
of the so-called dead, nor the conclusions of 
the living, can change the facts which I have 
proved, or nullify a single natural law. 
Truth has neither youth nor age ; it is, and 
ever has been, a brother to reason; it does 
not need the assistance of fame or science; 
it has never been in the keeping of any par- 
ticular class of men; it is the heritage of 
all who live. 

I look into the future and see the creeds 
and dogmas that, for centuries, have en- 
slaved the human race, dead and obsolete 
laws in life's great statute book. I see 
knowledge take the place of faith and super- 
stition; I see the awful fear of death ban- 
ished from every human heart and mankind 
at peace. I see a world of thinkers, honest 
and free, teaching the gospel of truth, the 
religion of nature, and philosophy of meta- 
psychics, — the new science of matter. 

Let this fact sink deep into every human 
heart : the individual thought must at all 
times be kept clean and pure for this won- 
derous and ever active mind of ours is from 
day to day throwing the shuttle through 
the web of life, incessantly weaving the 

237 



THE FUTURE OF MAN 

fabric of the condition that will clothe the 
naked soul on the threshold of the after 
life, and those in the great beyond watch 
beside the loom. 



238 



Now in its second edition 

Life's Progression 



(Meta -Psychic) 
BY 



Edward C. Randall 



A plain and concise statement of those simple 
laws of nature that govern the change called death, 
and of what follows in the sphere of progression 
where, and where only, intense life is to be found. It 
gives the world a new philosophy. 

Sir William Crookes (London) says of it: 

"I have only had time to glance through it, but 

from the little I have seen of its contents I shall 

read it with pleasure and I am sure with much 

profit/' 

N. W. Richardson, President of N. Y. State 
Spiritualists Association : 

"The work is a most complete compilation of 
the essential teachings and the important lessons 
which higher intelligents have been pouring out upon 
the human family during the last half century. M 

Dr. Charles Richet (Paris) : 
"It is full of fruitful ideas and inspired by a great 
love for the future of humanity." 

Boston Globe: 

"A series of thoughtful essays on the great prob- 
lems of life in which is much proof that the author 
has thought deeply and well. ' ' 

PRICE, $1.50 NET, Postage 15c extra. 



OTTO ULBRICH CO. 

PUBLISHERS 

386 MAIN ST. BUFFALO, N. Y. 



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